​​Welcome to the Southport Memorial Library!

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Visit us to borrow books, DVDs, CDs and audio books.  View the butterfly collection, play in the children's room, and shop our sale room.

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Library cards are available free for area residents and visitors.

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Please read the message below about IMLS Funding:

 

Many of you may have asked about the recent cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).  This is a federal organization with the mission to “advance, support, and empower” museums and libraries in all fifty states. The entire staff of IMLS has been placed on leave, and their funding is to be eliminated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).  These cuts are disastrous for libraries in Maine and across the nation.

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While individual libraries in Maine do not receive direct funding from IMLS, the Maine State Library received just over $1.5 million from them in 2024, which is used to support services to public libraries throughout the State.  Federal library funding in Maine goes toward:

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• Free gigabit internet to 243 public libraries through the Maine School and Library Network

• Supporting interlibrary loan service to over 260 libraries statewide, ensuring Maine residents have access to more than 10 million items

• Providing e-books and e-audiobooks to all Mainers through CloudLibrary

• Providing those who are blind or visually impaired with large print and recorded books mailed to the patron for free

• Delivering professional development training to library staff through consultations and workshops

• Support for online databases offered through the Digital Maine Library

• Providing the Books by Mail program to homebound individuals and Maine residents who live in rural areas without a local library

• Support for Maine InfoNet for technology support and training for shared library catalogs statewide, building a strong connection for resource sharing statewide, and Digital Maine Library tech support and maintenance

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All of these services are in jeopardy if IMLS is eliminated and funding doesn’t continue.  This loss of funding would be devastating to libraries in Maine.

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Libraries serve everyone: young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural, liberal and conservative. They offer free access to knowledge, foster literacy, support community engagement, and provide space for learning.  Libraries offer educational programming, provide after school programs, host book clubs, and serve as community centers.  Libraries are one of the only public spaces in our country where you can enter without the expectation that you must buy something - the books in the library are free!  The Maine State Library reports that there were over 1 million individual visits to libraries in the State of Maine in 2024.  One million! 

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Our local libraries are essential to the well being of our communities - let’s keep them active, thriving, and funded.  I implore you to contact your congressional representatives and ask them to restore the funding to IMLS, which will support all the libraries in Maine.  Thank you!