The Blanco Library is a busy place. The library, which has been around for more than 80 years, has over 8,000 patrons and boasts a collection which totals over 27,000 items.
While it has been closed to the public for weeks during the coronavirus pandemic, it is likely to reopen soon.
The idea of the library is to be like a living room for the community. It is a place where kids can learn, citizens can read, students can study, and homeless can enjoy inside.
“It’s a melting pot this library of all generations and all needs,” said Sandy Switzer, library board member. A library card does not cost a dime and one does not need to be a resident to obtain one.
The library has two full-time and three part-time employees, in addition to more than 35 volunteers. Crystal Spybuck, the library director, has been at the Blanco Library for 10 years.
Most of the audiobooks and DVDs have been donated.
The Blanco Woman’s Club (BWC) started the Blanco Library in 1938. In 1976, the BWC created a non-profit 501(c)(3) called Blanco Library, Incorporated (INC) so that donations to the library could be tax deductible.
INC “maintains the library through fundraising, receiving, investing, and holding real property, endowments, legacies, and donations for the Library, funding Library needs as requested.”
The board is composed of a president, treasurer, secretary, vice president and a community representative. All BWC members are shareholders in INC and part of the annual dues of BWC are contributed to INC. Members at large are elected by the board of INC. The meetings are quarterly.
The non-profit organization, Friends of the Blanco Library (Friends), was founded in 1991 to promote the interest and welfare of the library. Friends supports the library “as a cultural and educational asset to the community through public relations, activities, and fundraising.” A board composed of a president, vice president of membership, vice president of programs, treasurer and secretary is elected each May by the members at a general membership meeting. Anyone can become a member of Friends and one does not have to live in Blanco. Friends is also a non-profit 501(c)(3). Citizens and businesses can choose from various levels of membership in the organization.
The current location of the library opened in April 2000. Volunteers ran the library until 2002, when the Blanco County South Library District was formed. An elected board of trustees makeup the Blanco County South Library district board; board members must reside in Precincts 1 and 4 and live outside the city of Blanco. The district board of trustees handles the day to day operations and develops library policy. The employees of the library are employed by the district.
The Friends amended their bylaws during this time to support the policies of the district. There is a semi-annual board that all three boards attend. INC owns the building and land and raises money for the library to cover the costs. The district rents the building and pays the bills, including insurance.
The library has an operation budget of around $240,000. One half of one percent of the sales tax in the district is to be used for the operation of the library, according to a law. This does not generate enough to cover the operating budget of the library. The Blanco County Commissioners Court budgeted $6,000 for the Blanco Library this fiscal year.
The different organizations put on different projects and fundraiser. INC had a tasting at Ben Milam this past year. Another event is a pecan sale each year by the BWC. The money goes to INC which then is given to the library. A silver tea takes place in December. Friends has an ongoing book sale at the library and also hosts a dinner and a movie night. This is one of the bigger fundraising events. This year the dinner and a movie event will take place on March 13.
Friends purchases all the books and provides money for special projects. A total of $1,100 per month is given to purchase books and movies. In 2017, the library received the Tocker Foundation grant for $47,765 and in 2018, the Ladd and Katherine Hancher Foundation grant of $27,927 was received. The library used the Tocker Foundation grant for bookshelves and updating software. The Hancher Foundation grant was received to replace all the computers, updated software, new AV equipment, more storage for programming, wireless printing, and a new scan station.
“We’re trying to do the Wi-Fi hotspots out to our patrons, they’re going to be based off a Sprint towers so hopefully there’s going to be some good connection here,” Spybuck said. “When I was talking to the representative they said they’re going to lose a little signals towards the 290 division, but there’s a big broadband technologies initiative that’s happening and they’re looking at this specifically for rural areas, how do we get high speed internet out to our constituents and we had a representative that really pushed for Blanco to be able to get these. There’s only three counties and three libraries that were accepted for this.” Spybuck works together with the Johnson City Library. The Blanco Library worked with four other libraries with the DIY grant which had circulating kits including a 3D printer.
The library was expanded and renovated to add conference rooms, study rooms and more in 2014 with the open house on Feb. 9, 2017. BWC, INC, Friends, the district and community members raised $500,000 to complete the project. The new addition was named the “Patricia I. Ryan Wing.” The front desk stone wall was a part of the original footprint.
