New Orleans

Libraries and Museums

New Orleans boasts a total of 65 public libraries and three institutional libraries. The official New Orleans Public Library, with 11 branches and 1,003,274 books, features a special collection on jazz and folk music. The Tulane University Library, with 1,470,549 books, has special collections on jazz and Louisiana history. The libraries at Tulane University and Xavier University of Louisiana each carry a special black-studies collection.

New Orleans also hosts a staggering number of museums with collections ranging from art to history to novelty. Leading art museums include the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the Lampe Gallery. As for historical museums, the Louisiana State Museum, an eight-building historic complex in the French Quarter, is the oldest and largest museum in the state of Louisiana. There is also the Confederate Museum, the American Italian Renaissance Museum, BAND—Black Arts National Diaspora, Inc., Gallier House Museum, Hermann-Grima Historic House, the Historic New Orleans Collection, the House of Broel's Historic Mansion and Dollhouse Museum, Longue Vue House and Gardens, Pitot House Museum, and St. Alphonsus Art and Culture Museum. Novelty museums include Louisiana Children's Museum, Musee Conti—the Wax Museum, New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum, the Audubon Living Science Museum, and the six museums of the Rivertown Museums, including Jefferson Parish Mardi Gras Museum and the Saints Hall of Fame.