An Old Man and a Little Girl in the Stacks
Bellevue, NE 68005
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public library.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Flat, paved interior
Equipment
Photos OK
Bellevue, Nebraska, established in 1822 as a fur-trading post of the Missouri Fur Company under Joshua Pilcher, is the state's oldest continuous Euro-American settlement. Lucien Fontenelle managed the trading post after Pilcher, and in 1833 Peter Sarpy took it over — Sarpy County, where the library now stands, takes its name from him. Bellevue served briefly as the Nebraska Territory's first capital before Omaha was selected. Offutt Air Force Base, established south of the city in 1921 and made headquarters of Strategic Air Command in 1948, brought rapid mid-twentieth-century population growth.
The city's public library tradition began in 1929, when the Bellevue Junior Woman's Club (now the Aoyikia Woman's Club) gathered an initial gift of twelve books from the Dundee Woman's Club and opened a small reading room in a back room of the J.C. Larson residence on East 20th Street. In 1930 the library moved into the south wing of the Presbyterian Church, then later that year into the county courthouse. By 1938 the collection had relocated to a stucco building at Washington Park, and by 1961 to a brick building on the same park grounds.
The John Rice Memorial Library opened in September 1975, replacing the Washington Park facility and named in honor of John Rice, a figure tied to Bellevue's mid-century civic development. The library has operated continuously since then as the city's primary branch, serving the Sarpy County reading community.
No specific historical events on the building site — earlier structures, documented deaths, or notable incidents — have been identified in available records. The accounts of unexplained visitors reported by staff have not been connected to any verifiable historical individuals.
Sources
Staff and visitor accounts at the John Rice Memorial Library describe two recurring figures with unusually precise physical details. The girl is consistently described as roughly ten years old, with dark brown hair parted in the middle and round glasses too large for her face. She does not appear head-on. Witnesses report seeing her at the edge of peripheral vision among the stacks, and on turning to look directly she is gone.
The second figure is an older man, encountered crouching over books in the stacks as though absorbed in reading. His face is never observed. Multiple staff have reported the figure across different areas of the building, with the description consistent enough to suggest more than a single witness account.
A third category of report is tactile rather than visual. Employees working at their desks describe being poked firmly on the back — a deliberate jab rather than an accidental brush. They turn to find no one behind them.
Reports occur during both daytime and after-hours work, with night reports somewhat more frequent in collected accounts. No formal paranormal investigation findings have been published for the site, and no historical records have surfaced linking specific individuals to the apparitions. The library remains a fully active public branch and reports continue to circulate among local paranormal community sources.
Notable Entities
The John Rice Memorial Library is an active public library and fully open to visitors. Browse the stacks — the man's apparition has been reported crouching over books, face never visible. The girl has been glimpsed in peripheral vision near the shelves. Employees have reported being poked on the back at their desks with no one behind them.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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