Branches of the Omaha Public Library

Early Omaha: Gateway to the West
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From humble beginnings, the Millard Branch Library has grown to be the busiest branch in the Omaha Public Library system. The Women’s Extension Club of Millard founded the Millard Library in 1950. A community-funded book purchase and loan from the Nebraska Library Commission made up the branch’s first collection of fewer than 1,000 books. An all-volunteer staff opened the first Millard Library in the Village Hall in March 1952.

The library moved four more times over the years that followed. In 1963, the Millard Municipal Building housed the library. In 1968, it moved to a tiny house at 301 Cedar Street. In April of 1971 and amid much controversy, the City of Omaha annexed Millard and its library became a branch of the Omaha Public Library system. At least Omaha and Millard agreed on one thing, according to former Mayor Al Sorensen -- that the current location was "totally inadequate." The Millard Branch Library moved again in 1974 to a temporary location at the Millard Shopping Center, where its collection could grow to 13,500 books. Throughout 1979 and 1980, and in spite of controversy about the location being too far from Old Millard, the community pulled together, and created a successful campaign “Book the Future for Your Child” urging citizens to support an $800,000 bond issue to fund a new library.

On April 5, 1981, a new Millard Branch Library opened at 132nd and Westwood Lane, during National Library Week. To accommodate southwest Omaha’s rapid growth, a three-year renovation/expansion project, completed in 1999, tripled the size of Millard Branch to 32,390 sq. ft. Some of the unique features of the renovation includes an award-winning exterior brick design that looks like open books, an outdoor reading sculpture-garden, and a wrap-around indoor mural entitled “The Earth is an Open Book.”

Early Omaha: Gateway to the West

MILLARD BRANCH