On March 1, the Blanco Public Library hosted a delegation of librarians from across Canada. The participants were part of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. This session focused on Library Management and social networking in the United States. Participants visited top libraries in the U.S. including the U.S. Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the University of Texas Library in Austin, the Texas State Library, and our local Blanco Library right here in our town. What an honor!

This project is designed for library professionals involved in overall management and policy-making for programs and activities in both government and private libraries. The delegation was composed of Canadian librarians from all types of libraries including the Library of Parliament, Calgary Public Library, Vancouver Public Library, and the library at Brandon University.

Coming to Blanco was not an accident this time. Yes, it was an accident last year. The project visited the Blanco Library because it was the only library open on the day the group planned to visit a small, rural library venue on July 5. The program manager was so impressed with what she found here that she included the Blanco Library as the model for a community library on this year’s trip.

The group spent the afternoon hearing about all the wonderful services and projects from librarian, Crystal Spybuck. The history of our library and how we operate was discussed by the board members, Shirley Beck, Millie Jones, and Arnold Barban. There was sharing of the social networks that all of these libraries and ours use, which include Facebook, MySpace, Tweeter, and LinkedIn. The librarians left Blanco not only with ideas and new enthusiasm, but also with a bag of fun Texas and Lavender Festival gifts provided by the Blanco Chamber of Commerce to remind them of their visit.

If you don’t know what makes your library so special, maybe it’s time to find out. Visit the library or come to its website www.blancolib.org and check it out.