SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — Checking out books from Mead Public Library just got easier with a new 24/7 pick-up service.
It officially launched this week and is the first of its kind in the country.
The project cost about $150,000. That money funded the locker installation now seen on the outside of the building.
“It’s just the great thing about libraries. If they have the funds available, they can keep innovating,” noted Kathie Norman, president of the Mead Library Foundation.
The pandemic required a way for people to access library materials while social distancing.
Now, it’s a continued demand for convenience.
“I think this is just marvelous,” said Marge Giesen. She’s an avid reader and has been a regular at the library since the 70s.
“Because you do have elderly people, people that it’s not so easy to get around, third-shift workers, moms that are with kids. It’s not so easy to bring everybody in to pick up everything.”
Check out books, movies, music, video games — you name it.
“We have different-sized lockers, so we can put a lot into certain ones,” explained Library Director Garrett Erickson. “If you want a book kit or some of the larger items that we have here, those fit perfectly well.”
The library staff loads the lockers in the back.
What avid readers and librarians are saying about Sheboygan Library’s new 24/7 pick-up program:
The team says that will be especially nice in the snow and ice. There will be no need to brave the weather while pushing a cart.
When a member is ready to pick up their items, they scan their library card at the kiosk, and the locker automatically checks them out once the door opens.
“And away you go,” added Giesen.
Erickson: “We really had no idea how popular or not popular it would be.”
“Since this has been operational, it’s being used almost to its maximum capacity," Norman said.
That’s not surprising for a library that circulates 300,000 to 400,000 materials annually.
“A lot of my friends have used it,” Giesen noted. “I tell them about.”
Noirman said the team is already thinking of adding more lockers in the near future.
“Libraries should always be on the cutting edge of figuring out ways to be more relevant to the community.”
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