After serving the Omaha community for 45 years, the W. Dale Clark Library is moving to temporary location

“We are inviting everyone in our community to come in and say farewell to this space, we know this library has been around for 45 years. People have made good memories here, they have enjoyed the space and learned a lot in this space,” said Emily Getzschman, Marketing and Media relations manager for Omaha Public Libraries.

On Saturday, the W. Dale Clark library will celebrate its final farewell before relocating to a temporary home at 1410 Howard. The day will be filled with exciting activities for children and their parents, as well as performances by Nebraska state poet Matt Mason and local artist Jessica Hanson.

“There is gonna be so much happening here on Saturday for kiddos. We have a story time that’s gonna be about moving to let them know we aren’t gone, just moving to another location. We will have a scavenger hunt for kids, an activity where people can write down their memories of this place. There are going to be tours of some of the behind-the-scenes areas that people haven’t seen before in the library. Some different memorabilia on display, different photos, and different articles,” said Getzschman.

It is a bittersweet moment for the library and its staff, but they hope that on Saturday they will be able to give the Dale Clark a good send-off and let its visitors know that although the library is gone, it has not been forgotten.

“So many of them remind us that yes, it’s about this space but we get to take the memories with us when we go. So we know that yes, it’s sad for some people, and change is hard, but we are excited because there will be new memories made in the new spaces. We know it’s just our next step and we are making progress and looking forward to it,” said Getzchman.

The Dale Clark’s goodbye celebration will begin on Saturday at 2:00 pm and end at 4:00 pm.