Photo: DiscoA340 · CC BY-SA 4.0Southport’s library is a branch of Brunswick County Library, which lends less per resident than 79% of systems its size
Southport’s library is the Harper Library, a branch of Brunswick County Library, which serves 160,440 people and lent 374K items last year.
What Southport’s library is like
Programs lean toward adults
54% of the 1,895 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 699 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Brunswick County Library system spends $12 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). What your card is worth ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Southport’s library is a branch of Brunswick County Library, so they cover the whole system (160,440 people), not just the Southport branch.
What’s behind Southport’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Southport is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #24 of 234 in North Carolina. Southport is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Southport’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Southport
5.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.6%
7.6% of Southport’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.2% in the typical North Carolina town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Southport’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Brunswick County Library serves 160,440 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Brunswick County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
374K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
80,150 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 13 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Harper Library, 109 W Moore St., Southport.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Brunswick County Library branch.
New in Southport? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Southport cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 41,551 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Harper Library is one branch of Brunswick County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 160,440 people it serves.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Southport
Does Southport have a public library?
Yes: Harper Library, 109 W Moore St., is a branch of Brunswick County Library, which serves 160,440 people. The branch is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brunswick County Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Southport’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Southport’s civic life grade?
B+ Southport is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #24 of 234 in North Carolina. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Southport.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.