

Vision Statement
The University of Southern Mississippi Libraries will be known as the institution’s center for intellectual inquiry by creating new avenues of service to educate and assist patrons, developing innovative approaches to enhance and expand collections, and exploring new opportunities to foster collaboration across campus and among the larger community.
Mission
The mission of the University Libraries is to create an information-rich environment that fosters the intellectual development and creativity of the university community by providing services, collections, and other resources to meet the needs of the university’s students, faculty, staff, and other researchers in a changing academic landscape.
Values
- Service – Deliver exemplary service.
- Stewardship – Evaluate, select, and provide access to a broad range of information resources.
- Intellectual Freedom – Protect the privacy of individuals and their rights to find and use information relevant to educational and research needs.
- Collaboration – Form partnerships that support or advance the Libraries’ mission.
- Equality – Provide access to the library and its resources without regard to national origin, background, or views.
- Diversity – Respect the richness of different ideas and cultures.
- Empowerment – Support student success and professional development.
- Engagement – Be a vital and welcoming center for educational and cultural activity.
The Joseph Anderson Cook Library contains the principle holdings of books, journals, microforms, music, media, and other materials, which support the research and instructional programs of the University. Cook Library has five floors of book stacks, study areas, computers, and access is provided to over five million books and microforms and over 150,000 journals. Library services, such as circulation, reference and interlibrary loan, can be found on the first and second floors with the collections being housed on all five floors.
You can learn more about our history here.
The building is named for William D. McCain, former Mississippi state archivist and long-time president of The University of Southern Mississippi (1955-1975). An avid genealogist and historian, Dr. McCain took up offices in the McCain Library as President Emeritus following his retirement in 1975. Today, current President Emeritus Aubrey K. Lucas works out of the third floor offices. Other tenants in the building include the Graduate School, and the Testing Center.