Early Omaha: Gateway to the West

W. Clarke Swanson Branch Library - Opened 1966

As families migrated to the suburbs in the 1960s, Omaha developed the need for another library to serve a population that was expected to triple by 1980. The new library’s primary focus would be on children. Anticipating the growing needs of the community, the $700,000, two-floor facility would accommodate a huge collection of books, the largest children’s section of any library in the region and would house an auditorium and conference room. The Carl and Caroline Swanson Foundation donated a three-acre site at 90th and West Dodge Road in memory of their son and local philanthropist W. Clarke Swanson, who died when he was only 52. Opened in February 1966, the W. Clarke Swanson Branch Library was Omaha Public Library’s sixth permanent branch. Designed by Leo A. Daly Architects, the modern library won national awards for its contemporary design.

Omaha Public Library as a whole currently maintains a collection of over 350,000 books for youth, but Swanson’s collection is the most impressive. The 7,000 books in the Genevieve Price Historic Children’s Collection, named for the children’s librarian who established it, includes a treasure trove of rare books, some signed by the authors. Scholars of children’s literature have been delighted to find books they had been searching for but could not find anywhere else in the country. Built to accommodate 80,000 books, Swanson now accomodates over 128,000 books, 21 public computers and five audio and video stations. In addition to books and computers, the community enjoys a wide range of free programs, from toddler storytimes to gardening workshops. Swanson also hosts the ever-popular quarterly book sale, sponsored by the Friends of the OPL. Book sale proceeds help fund education grants for library employees, summer reading club activities, projects like this cookbook, and grants for the branches through the Adopt-A-Branch program.

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

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