The Bay County Public Library maintains a local history collection in a local history room set aside for that purpose. The Library has a collection of approximately 7,000 photographs and almost 5,000 of these are catalogued and searchable by subject area in the Bay County Public Library Catalog. Patrons may obtain a copy of any photograph for a small fee. The Bay District Schools owns the Tommy Smith Photograph Collection of 1,998 photos that they will maintain. The Tommy Smith Collection is also cataloged and searchable in the Bay County Public Library Catalog. This collection contains historic and current photos of local landmarks, people, buildings, churches, schools, community events and other items that reflect the history of Bay County and its communities.