There are 61 libraries in Nikolayev having a total collection of 4,420,000 items of printed materials. The oldest and largest library in the city is the Nikolayev Scientific library named after A. Gmurev. In addition to it's tremendous collection, this library has many special collections and rare book collections that make it stand out from other Nikolayev libraries.
The centralized library system for adults including the central library named after M. Kropivnitsky, integrates 21 library branches and has a total collection of over 830,000 items of monographs, serials, periodicals, audio and video materials.. The centralized library system for children has a central children library named after S. Kober and V. Homenko and 10 library branches.