Our Mission

The Friends of the Library Southport & Oak Island (FOLSOI) is a non-profit organization that provides financial and operational support to the Southport and Oak Island libraries, enabling them to remain current, accessible, and appealing.

FOLSOI raises money for upgrades to book collections, equipment, and facilities, and its volunteers sponsor educational and cultural programs to engage library patrons of all ages.

FOLSOI’s vision and dedication enable our libraries to thrive and remain a vibrant asset to our community.

Who We Are 

We are your neighbors, your friends and fellow residents of Southport, Oak Island and southeast Brunswick County, North Carolina.

We are volunteers who are passionate about supporting our local libraries—Harper Library in Southport and Barbee Library on Oak Island. 

We believe that the more people read, and the better our libraries can meet their needs, the stronger our families, our communities and our future will be.

We’re committed to inspiring children to discover the life-changing power of books.

We are champions of the many talented authors and writers who have made this community their home.

What We Do

FOLSOI provides support for a variety of programs—for children, adults and the whole community—at the Harper and Barbee libraries; we help the libraries increase and improve their collections of books, periodicals and online resources; and we help supply much-needed library equipment and supplies.

How We Do It

We have more than 200—and counting! Friends who provide support through their annual memberships. Our all-volunteer board of directors also raises funds at monthly used-book sales and through strategic grant writing to obtain support for special programs.

All of these activities enable the taxpayer-supported county budgets to remain earmarked to enhance both libraries’ facilities and deliver other vital services to our community.

How You Can Help

Join us! Become a friend today and help champion our local public libraries.

Attend one or more of our many events and activities held at Harper and Barbee libraries.

Buy some books at our monthly sales (or at the Southport Summer Market)!

Support our local authors who are creating amazing works of fiction and nonfiction.