Early Omaha: Gateway to the West

Milton R. Abrahams Branch - Opened 1988

“Don’t build us a building that is what you think a library should look like,” said former library director Michael Phipps about Omaha Public Library’s newest branch. When the Milton R. Abrahams Branch Library was completed in 1988, how very un-library-like it was with its colored neon lights, red cushioned chairs, accented by a black, gray and white color scheme. Harry Bertoia’s sculpture “Sunburst,” on loan from the Joslyn Art Museum, and the built-in audiovisual stations at the circulation area added to the building’s unique architecture.

Named in honor of lawyer and former library board president Milton R. Abrahams for his dedication to the community, the library reaped numerous awards, including The Omaha Women’s Chamber of Commerce City Beautification Award and the Nebraska Society of Architects Honor Award for Distinguished Accomplishment in Architecture, for its futuristic design. Abrahams’ credits the library with helping him get his first job at Union Pacific Railroad right after high school. One of the job requirements was that he “know something about accounting,” according to a 1988 Omaha World-Herald article. The ambitious young Abrahams knew nothing, but spent days before he was to report to work in the library learning as much as he could about accounting. He got the job.

The Milton R. Abrahams Branch is the sixth existing library in the Omaha Public Library system named after a community leader. The other five libraries are named after civic leader W. Clarke Swanson, former mayor A.V. Sorensen, civil rights leader Charles B. Washington, Nebraska author Willa Cather, and Omaha banker and philanthropist W. Dale Clark.

Text from "Literary bites: 125 years and Still Cooking:
Omaha Public Library Cookbook"
Written by Cookbook and History Commitee, 2002

Branches | Abrahams | Benson
Florence | Millard | Sorensen | South
Swanson | Washington | Willa Cather

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