Resources & Reference Materials
Digital Collections
Omaha Public Library History
Omaha Public Library has a long history. An Omaha Library Association was established in 1857 but, lacking funds, failed in 1860. After…
Omaha Menu Collection
We seek to preserve Omaha's culinary history, social history, the terroir of the land that inspired cuisines of the time, & design history.
Maps & Atlases
The collection includes many atlases and maps documenting the history of Nebraska and its towns and cities from 1854 to the late 1900s.
Historical Images & Artifacts
View the historical images in the OPL digital image collection. More content is being digitized all the time, so check back often!
Directories & Documents
Yearbooks
A collection of yearbooks from various high schools and universities in the Omaha area.
Phone Books
Omaha phone books from 1920-present are available in the Nebraska Reference collection at the Genealogy & Local History Room.
Newspaper Clippings
Ever wonder what people did before online indexes? They used clipping files! Most articles are from the Omaha World-Herald.
Masonic Files
The Scottish Rite Masons donated over 30 boxes of admissions application forms dating from 1881 to 1999.
Records
OPL is a FamilySearch Affiliate
A large collection of microfilms from the Family History Library are available for viewing in the Genealogy & Local History Room.
Surname File Collection
Located in the Genealogy Room and organized by surname, this contains papers and clippings relating to families around the country.
Nebraska Marriage Records by County
The library has marriage records for several Nebraska counties on microfilm at the Genealogy & Local History Room.
Douglas County Birth & Death Registers
Microfilm reels cover birth and death registers in Douglas County (1873-1904), South Omaha (1895-July 1905) & City of Omaha (1895-1915).
Unique Collections
Architectural Plans Collection
See the inventory of OPL's architectural plans collection donated by Preserve Omaha (formerly Restore Omaha).
Funeral Pamphlet Database
Index to an extensive local funeral pamphlet collection held at the Genealogy & Local History Room.
World Stereoview Collection
The 1,259 image world stereoview collection was given to Omaha Public Library by Charles Nelson Dietz.
Wagon Roads
This unique source is a microfilm copy of papers from the office of the Secretary of the Interior relating to wagon roads from 1857-1887
