Branches of the Omaha Public Library

Early Omaha: Gateway to the West
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Good libraries don’t just happen. In 1921, the proud citizens of North Omaha demanded an improvement in their library service, which existed as a deposit station in a notions store. The result was the opening of the North Branch Library in an old church building at 25th and Ames Avenue. It served the community well. For a while.

Ten years later, the “cozy, attractive, well-lighted building … belies its real state,” head librarian Florence Osborne wrote in a 1931 report. As the book collection expanded and the clapboard building deteriorated, the drafty place became unbearable. Following six years of debate about location and funding, a brand new library building opened in 1938 at 29th and Ames. History repeats itself -- three decades later, the service area had increased, and the 30-year-old building became crowded and inadequate. The Omaha City Council approved a resolution to rebuild the North Branch Library on the same site, using funds from a federal grant and a long-term bank loan. Opened in the summer of 1972, the new library, with its cutting-edge design by Dana Larson Roubal & Associates architects, added much to the bustling commercial activity in North Omaha, which reporters referred to as a “Renaissance on Ames.”

In September 1986, the North Branch Library was re-named for Charles B. Washington, a longtime civil rights advocate, also known for his work with young people in the Black community. Today, this thriving library houses a rich collection of books by and about African Americans. In 1998, the Washington Branch librarians teamed up with neighbors to host a Kwanzaa celebration. This sharing of an African-American cultural experience with the Omaha community has become an annual tradition at the Washington Branch.

Early Omaha: Gateway to the West

WASHINGTON BRANCH