Architecture and Photos of Library

Main Reading Room

The main reading room is 104 feet long, 70 feet wide, with a four-domed ceiling, which is 33 feet high. Mural paintings were originally planned for the ceiling and walls of this room, which is pannelled in St. Genevieve marble. The ceilings are mission plaster.

South Reading Room

At the south end of the library is a large reading room, 32 feet by 41 feet with a 20 foot ceiling with large cyprus beams. Above the columns in the south reading room is the main and largest pierced wood carving in the capitol. The carving features the proposed seal of the State of Nebraska, as planned by Lee Lawrie.

Spirit of the Prairie

The second mural commissioned for the State Capitol, the Spirit of the Prairie was completed by Elizabeth Dolan in 1930. The mural occupies the well illuminated north wall above the main entrance to the law library. Many have speculated that the content of the mural suggests that the prairie mother, with child in tow and with the family dog alongside, is looking eastward in contemplation of the home she left to come to Nebraska.