Springfield's Library Closes at 1 on Saturdays. Plan Your Fall Crawl Passport Around Main Street.

The Nebraska Library Fall Crawl runs through Monday, November 30, and Springfield Memorial Library at 665 Main St. is one of the stops. Papillion, La Vista and Gretna all have participating libraries a short drive away. Springfield Memorial Library is open four hours on Saturday and closed Sunday, and it's also the natural place for a Springfield reader to turn in a finished passport, so its hours set the schedule for the whole crawl.

If you plan the crawl around the Main Street library's hours, the other stops fit in easily. If you plan it around a free Sunday, you'll end up driving to Plattsmouth.

This is the first fall the crawl reached Sarpy County

The crawl is only in its second year. Gretna Public Library's announcement says last year's crawl ran only in the Central Plains Library System, one of Nebraska's four regional library systems, which covers the middle of the state. This year all four systems joined, and that brought in libraries across the Omaha metro's southern edge.

The Southeast Library System says more than 100 libraries are taking part, and it links to a shared Google map of every participant. That map lists 117 places. Springfield's own community newsletter promoted the crawl in its October 7 issue under the label "Library Passport: Explore Nebraska Libraries."

So for anyone in Springfield, this is the first fall the passport could be filled from home.

How the passport works, and why your home library matters

The rules are simple, and one of them points straight back to Main Street. According to the Grand Island Public Library's September 9 release and the Southeast Library System's post, the crawl works like this:

1. Pick up a free Library Fall Crawl booklet at any participating library.
2. Get a sticker at each participating library you visit.
3. Collect stickers from ten different libraries to enter the prize drawing.
4. Turn in the booklet's center page at your home library or at your tenth stop.
5. Visit about 30 libraries to earn the 2026 Library Fall Crawl tote bag. Gretna's post puts the mark at your first 30 libraries, and Grand Island's release says more than 30, so ask at the desk which count applies.

The Nebraska Regional Library Systems are giving four prize baskets, one per system, and the winners will be announced Monday, December 21.

Step four matters for Springfield readers. If Springfield Memorial Library is your home library, you can make it both your first stop and your last. Pick up the booklet there, collect stickers around the area, and come back to turn it in. That means two trips that have to land inside Springfield's open hours.

Four weekend hours on Main Street

The City of Springfield's library page, dated April 28, 2026, posts the weekly schedule below. Plattsmouth Public Library's hours, from its library homepage, are in the second column for comparison.

Springfield is open 38 hours a week, and only four of them fall on the weekend. Plattsmouth is open 11 weekend hours across Saturday and Sunday. Plattsmouth's catalog site lists an 8 a.m. Saturday opening instead of 9, so check before an early start.

From publication day on October 22 to the November 30 deadline, there are six Saturdays left: October 24 and 31, and November 7, 14, 21 and 28. Each one gives you a 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. window in Springfield. On weekdays, the Tuesday and Thursday evening hours until 7 p.m. are the easiest time to visit the Springfield library after work.

One way to use that window: start at Main Street right at 9 on a Saturday, then drive to libraries with longer afternoon hours. Save the turn-in trip for a Tuesday or Thursday evening.

Reasons to stay longer than the sticker

The short hours are easier to work with when you know what else the library offers. The Springfield Wednesday Newsletter's October 14 issue lists several things beyond books:

• Celebration Station. Local Girl Scouts built it to help families celebrate special occasions without the extra cost. The library now has birthday cake kits with decorations, plus assorted cake pans you can check out.
• Library of Things / Discovery Lab. The newsletter promotes it with a "Check it out" invitation.
• Monday story time. It fits the library's 10 a.m. Monday opening.
• Cookies & Cards on the second Wednesday. In November, the second Wednesday is November 11.
• Free news access with a library card.

The same issue also promotes a knit and crochet group and a library playgroup. Any of these can turn a quick sticker stop into a real visit, so planning your stop around one makes sense.

The nearby stops, and the Sunday exception

The official map lists several libraries close to Springfield: Papillion Public Library, La Vista Public Library, Gretna Public Library, Plattsmouth Public Library, Baright Public Library in Ralston, and Valley Public Library. Bellevue Public Library is in too. Its September 16, 2026 board minutes say it is taking part and had handed out about 25 passports. Counting Springfield, that's eight participating libraries in the area. You'd need two more from the map to reach ten.

Gretna runs two buildings: the Main Library Building at 736 South St and the Children's Library Building at 119 N McKenna St. Its post says booklets are available at either one. The rules call for ten different libraries, so ask the front desk whether both buildings count before you plan on two stickers from one town.

Hours vary from library to library, so look up each library's current schedule before you go, especially for a weekend loop. Sunday is where the schedule matters most. Springfield is closed, and among the nearby libraries with posted hours, Plattsmouth Public Library at 401 Avenue A is open Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. For a Springfield household whose only free time is Sunday afternoon, Plattsmouth is a reliable sticker. Its homepage was updated October 12, 2026, which makes it a good place to check hours before heading out.

November 7 lines up two errands on Main Street

The busiest Saturday on the Springfield library's fall calendar falls on November 7, three Saturdays before the crawl ends. That day the Friends of the Springfield Memorial Library hold their Book Fair at the library, a fundraiser for library programs and activities. The Friends also hold a working meeting to prepare for the fair on Thursday, November 5, at 6:30 p.m. at the library, and they say they're always looking for volunteers.

Friends merchandise is for sale at the library. Refrigerator magnets cost $3, children's book bags $5 and adult book bags $10. The newsletter gives the fair's date but not its hours. The library's regular Saturday hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., so confirm the fair's times before you build a morning around it.

If your passport is close to ten stickers by early November, the Book Fair Saturday is an easy day to turn in the center page at your home library. That puts your last Fall Crawl errand and a Friends fundraiser in the same building on the same day. If you're still short, the remaining Saturdays are November 14, 21 and 28, and the last day to collect stickers is Monday, November 30.

If your Fall Crawl loop has you thinking about which Springfield streets you'd like to stay near for the long run, we're glad to talk it through with you. Contact a Good Life Group agent at The Good Life Group.