Indigenous people of the Shawnee tribe moved into Indiana from areas around the Ohio River, perhaps from Kentucky, in the late 1700s. By 1809, Chief Tecumseh of the Shawnee saw that his people were in danger of once more losing their lands to the continued westward progress of European-descended settlers, so, together with a few other tribes, he and his Shawnee people resisted a treaty with the US Government which took 3 million acres from Native tribes. Tecumseh’s argument was that the land was owned by all the tribes and the ones who signed had no authority to do so on all of their behalf. After Tecumseh’s death in 1813, his alliances between the Shawnee and other tribes fell apart, and the Shawnee ceded their lands and moved to western reservations by the early 1830s.

Nearly a century later, in 1912, Allen County Public Library opened its first branch, then called the Southside Branch. In 1926 when a second satellite location was needed, the library director proposed renaming Southside to the Miami Branch, “in memory of the great tribe which was the power of the middle west.” Instead, it was named the Shawnee Branch, and ACPL has kept a branch with that name ever since, though its location has moved several times.

The current Shawnee Branch building, which opened in 1973, is built into the side of a low hill, making it architecturally interesting. Sheltered by a sloping red metal roof, its interior exposed beams and rough stone walls reflect the outdoor surroundings, a wooded lot and dozens of mature oak and maple trees. While a long ramp has been added to accommodate wheelchairs, most patrons use the double staircase to descend from the parking lot down to the building’s front doors.

Shawnee is in close proximity to two parochial schools and is within easy walking distance of a public K-8 school, which leads to high afternoon usage during the school year. Its location just south of a busy shopping center and close to three city bus lines makes the branch convenient to people from many southside neighborhoods.

In addition to a diverse collection of English-language materials, Shawnee hosts a strong collection of books in Spanish for all ages. In addition, patrons can access one large meeting room and two small private study rooms, 18 computers with printers, a fax machine and copy machine/scanner. In June of 2024, Shawnee’s Mini Maker Lab began hosting open hours, providing the community with access to a variety of machines and staff instruction, including a Prusa 3D Printer, Cricut Heat Press and Precision Cutting Machines, a Janome Sewing Machine, a Vevor Button Maker and a GBC Laminator.