There were 47 county or multi-county (regional) libraries, serving all counties in 2000. There were 5.6 million volumes in Mississippi libraries, and total circulation was over 8.4 million. The finest collection of Mississippiana is at the Mississippi State Department of Archives and History in Jackson. In the Vicksburg-Warren County Public Library are collections on the Civil War and state history and oral history collections. Tougaloo College has special collections of African materials, civil rights papers, and oral history. The Gulf Coast Research Library of Ocean Springs has a marine biology collection. Total public library income amounted to $35,998,000 in 2000. In 1998; per capita spending was $11.66, one of the lowest of all states.
There are 65 museums, including the distinguished Mississippi State Historical Museum at Jackson. Pascagoula, Laurel, and Jackson all have notable art museums. The Mississippi Museum of Natural Science in Jackson has been designated the state's official natural science museum by the legislature. Also in Jackson is the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum. In Meridian is a museum devoted to country singer Jimmie Rodgers, and in Jackson one to pitcher Dizzy Dean.
Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis's home at Biloxi, is a state shrine and includes a museum. The Mississippi governor's mansion—completed in 1845, restored in 1975, and purportedly the 2nd-oldest executive residence in the US—is a National Historical Landmark.