Photo: Woodlot · CC BY-SA 3.0Biloxi’s library is a branch of Harrison County Library System, which lends less per resident than 79% of systems its size
Biloxi’s library is the Margaret S. Sherry Memorial Library, a branch of Harrison County Library System, which serves 210,612 people and lent 429K items last year.
The short version on Biloxi’s library
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
Four branches in Biloxi
Biloxi has four branches of the Harrison County Library System, which serves 210,612 people across the area. One card works at all of them, and at every other branch in the system. The buildings ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Biloxi’s library is a branch of Harrison County Library System, so they cover the whole system (210,612 people), not just the Biloxi branch.
What’s behind Biloxi’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Biloxi is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #44 of 85 in Mississippi. Biloxi is graded on two of the three inputs. Biloxi’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Harrison County Library System spends $16 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$72K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
188 community nonprofits are registered in Biloxi
3.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (48 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.6%
4.6% of Biloxi’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.4% in the typical Mississippi town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Biloxi’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Harrison County Library System serves 210,612 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Harrison County Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
429K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
48,228 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 27 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
4 places to borrow in Biloxi
Margaret S. Sherry Memorial Library, 2141 Popps Ferry Road, Biloxi.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Harrison County Library System branch.
New in Biloxi? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Harrison County Library System branches in Biloxi
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Biloxi cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.3M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 40,746 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biloxi | Margaret S. Sherry Memorial Library | — | 47 | C− |
| Gulfport | Orange Grove Public Library | — | 45 | C− |
| D'Iberville | Jerry Lawrence Memorial Library | — | 44 | — too few inputs |
| Ocean Springs | Ocean Springs Municipal Library | — | 45 | C+ |
| St. Martin | St. Martin Public Library | — | 54 | — unincorporated |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Margaret S. Sherry Memorial Library is one branch of Harrison County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 210,612 people it serves.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Biloxi
Does Biloxi have a public library?
Yes: Margaret S. Sherry Memorial Library, 2141 Popps Ferry Road, is a branch of Harrison County Library System, which serves 210,612 people. The branch is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Harrison County Library System fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Biloxi’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Biloxi’s civic life grade?
C− Biloxi is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #44 of 85 in Mississippi. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Biloxi.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.