Presently, there are more than 5,600 volumes of books and journals in the collection. The primary emphasis of the Genealogy Collection is the southern United States, but many other areas of the nation are represented, as well as several foreign countries.

The collection consists of family histories, county histories, cemetery and Bible records, military and pension records, marriage and death records, immigration and land records, wills and estate records, tax lists, and census records. A surname card file provides information on approximately 4,800 families. Geographic files, arranged by state and county, as well as a card file index to obituaries published in the Jackson Clarion Ledger and the Hattiesburg American between 1968 and 1979 are available.

The personal library and research files of the late Richard Lackey, a nationally known genealogist, are another significant feature of this collection. The genealogy materials are available for patron use in the Cleanth Brooks Reading Room, and the collection is self-service.