xKIOS 91.5, Omaha Public Radio, and Omaha Public Library are teaming up on Off the Shelf, a new weekly segment and podcast about what is happening at your library and what is worth reading next.
Each Monday, host Topher Booth sits down with someone from Omaha Public Library: the staff who run the branches, the people behind the programs and the stories that live in the stacks. Every episode ends with a book pick, linked straight to the library catalog so you can place a hold the minute you hear about it.
Off the Shelf airs Mondays at 8:44 a.m. during Morning Edition and 4:44 p.m. during All Things Considered on KIOS 91.5. Every episode is also published as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and kios.org.
Episode one: six months at the new Central Library
The first episode visits Omaha’s new Central Library at 72nd and Dodge, which opened April 19, 2026. Courtni Kopietz, marketing manager for Omaha Public Library, says about 275,000 people have come through its doors so far, about 21% of on-site visits across the whole library system. The building has issued more than 12,000 library cards, about 48% of the system’s total this year.
The library bought a little over 30,000 new materials for the building, and many of them live in its automated storage and retrieval system: a book robot with room for about 600,000 items that is currently about a third full. “We had to build the building around it because the arms are so giant,” Kopietz said.
Her pick for spooky season is Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward, “kind of a Peter Pan retelling” that she promises is eerie but not nightmare material. Find it at Omaha Public Library.
Listen to episode one, with the full transcript
What your library card can do
Public radio and the public library are two of Omaha’s free, open-to-everyone institutions, and Off the Shelf is a weekly reminder of how much a library card opens up:
- Get an Omaha Public Library card
- Borrow eBooks and audiobooks on your phone or tablet
- Join a book club
- See what is happening at the library this week
- Check out Discovery Passes to Omaha-area attractions
Find every episode, this week’s pick and more library resources on the Off the Shelf page.
