We respond to inquiries on a first-come-first-serve basis and there may be a four to six week wait. If you live within the Omaha area or surrounding area, please consider coming to the library where you can receive personal help in your inquiries.

• A $20.00 advance payment along with a self-addressed stamped envelope is required to do a maximum half hour search. If copies are necessary, the first five are free; $1.00 each thereafter.

  Requests which will clearly require more than a half hour will be returned with your check.

  Requests which are unclear or which require considerable analysis will be returned with your check.

• Death notices which are in our obituary file will be copied and sent for a $5.00 advance payment and a self-addressed stamped envelope. Contact us to determine if the death notice has been filed. Those not in the file will be charged the fees as per paragraph one.
• We do not search federal or state censuses, nor do we search microfilm for such things as vital records, cemeteries, church records, etc. We will search microfilmed newspapers if we have a specific date.

The Omaha Public Library provides the research and other services described herein gratuitously. The collection of fees by the Library is merely done in an effort to recoup a portion of the costs expended administering said services. No contract is intended to be formed by the exchange of fees for research services. The Library makes every attempt to provide accurate information, but makes no guarantee, warranty, or representation as to the quality and/or accuracy of the research services provided. Consequently, the Library hereby disclaims any and all liability for any injury, loss, and/or damages that may result from any error(s) and/or omission(s) in the Library's administration of the services requested.

There are also Links to Online Nebraska Research that may be useful.

The Genealogy room houses over 7,000 genealogy reference books. While there is emphasis on Nebraska and Iowa, the collection is of national scope, as well as a few international sources. New materials are constantly being added to the collection. The Genealogy collection includes vital records indices, cemetery indices, census indices, family genealogies, as well as countless other useful sources. The Nebraska Reference collection, separate from the Genealogy Room, is another valuable resource for genealogists. For library holdings, check the OPL card catalog.

Library (OPL) owns over 7,000 reels of census microfilm. The library owns the entire federal census through 1860 (some reels are currently on order).  OPL also owns the entire census and Soundex for Nebraska through 1920. We also own the entire census for Iowa through 1920 except a few 1920 reels. OPL owns the federal census for the following states through 1870: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Dakota Territory, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Washington, and Wyoming. The collection is constantly growing as new reels are added weekly. We added 4000 reels in 1998 alone!

United States Federal Documents of Interest to Genealogists.