The Nebraska Library Commission coordinates library services. In 2000, the state had 12 county and multi-county library systems. A total of 5,605,000 volumes were in the public library system in 2000; total circulation was 11,176,000. Total income for the public library system came to $34,635,000 in 2000; including $207,810 in federal grants and $450,255 in state grants. The Omaha public library system had 916,560 books and 2,471 periodical subscriptions in nine branches.
The Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha is the state's leading museum. Other important museums include the Nebraska State Museum of History, the University of Nebraska State Museum (natural history), and the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, all in Lincoln; the Western Heritage Museum in Omaha; the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer in Grand Island; and the Hastings Museum in Hastings. In all, the state had 107 museums in 2000. The Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in northwestern Nebraska features mammal fossils from the Miocene era and a library of paleontological and geologic material.