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Washington Branch Staff met on Saturday, January 30th, for an all staff meeting. We were joined by our new Omaha Public Library Executive Director, Gary Wasdin, and Manager of Branches, Mary Griffin. We are making plans for the activities at Washington Branch as part of the Omaha Public Library rebranding process. Come to any Omaha Public Library on February 13th, 10-2 to join the fun. Check out the events on our calendar at http://www.omahalibrary.org/

Anthony Adams stopped into the Charles B. Washington Library my second week as manager. He had just moved back to Omaha and said he'd like to offer a chess class for kids. We quickly took him up on his offer. Here is is playing with Michael Toney on the first night, Wednesday, December 30th, outside of "The Spot" teen area.

If the Omaha Public Library had only had $650 back in 1913....... Omaha, Nebr., July 15, 1913 Miss Edith Tobitt, Librarian, City. My dear Miss Tobitt:- We have for sale a very beautiful Nebraska Bird Collection, in all about 300 birds. We are leaving the City and as we do not care to take a Nebraska Bird Collection to California, will dispose of them for less than the cost of mounting. This is the finest collection of birds in the State and Omaha should have them for educational purposes. If you desire to take them, arrangements should be made at once as we have our goods ready for packing. Very truly, Joseph Whinnery Phone: Douglas 1867 July 17, 1913 Dr. J. G. Whinnery 407 Paxton Block, Omaha. My dear Dr. Whinnery:- I sent your communication to Mr. Dietz [Omaha Public Library Board President] as soon as it was received at the Library and asked him to take some action so that I might communicate with you. He told m

One of the fun things about working at the library is meeting people doing research. This past week, local researcher, Daniel Schafer , brought in a couple of historic images from his own collection to share with us of the Omaha Fire Department. He is researching the early photographers in Omaha and Nebraska and said these were taken by Mitchell & McGowan in the summer of 1878. The first is of the Omaha Fire Department #1 - built on the northeast corner of 20 th & Izard . The front of the building faces west. The second image is of one of their fire wagons, which is probably seen in the background of the first photo. Enjoy!

On Thursday, April 9th, I had the pleasure of meeting Stanley "The Snake" Smith. He needed help updating his bio - he was going to be inducted into the Nebraska Boxing Hall of Fame April 17th-18th. We found several articles in the Omaha World-Herald in our Proquest Database written during his amateur boxing career. Stanley “The Snake” Smith is what this Omaha native was called during back in the 1980s. His snake-like jab is what earned him the nickname “The Snake” from the press. He won 5 City Championships and advanced to compete and win 5 Midwest Championships in 3 different weight divisions. He competed in three different weight divisions: the light heavy weight division in 1981 and 1984, the middle weight division in 1985 and 1986, and the heavy weight division in 1988. Stanley “The Snake” Smith won all 10 championships in each one of those years under coach Leonard Hawkins and Bill Cunningham of the 1140 Boxing Club. Stanley Smith competed all over the country including

The family of an Omaha artist whose work is better known than his name visited Omaha Public Library staff offices in March to research the Omaha Public Library’s special collections and to share stories, photos and articles about Charles M. Plein . Joining the group was Omaha historian Jeffrey Spencer, who shared significant information from his extensive research and collections of the time period. Plein (1870-1920) was the great-uncle of Jean McElheney of Rippey , IA (seated). He lived for a time in that area after emigrating from Alsace-Lorraine and before settling in Omaha in the 1890s. Jean told the library staff members that she had heard many stories about Plein from her mother, Elizabeth, Plein ’s favorite niece. The family collection includes photos of Charles; his brother, Eberhardt (Tony) Plein , who also lived in Omaha; vintage postcards sent to Elizabeth; published articles and personal letters. Jean now owns two bronze sculptures created by Plein , discovered and