On May 14th, 2015, a 18-person delegation led by Karen Pence, the First Lady of Indiana State Paid a friendly visit to Hangzhou Public Library, in company with Mr. Chu, director of Hangzhou Public Library.
Indianapolis, capital of Indiana and Hangzhou are sister cities. Indianapolis Public Library has maintained a good interaction with Hangzhou Public Library under this friendly environment.
During the First Lady’s visit, she sent Hangzhou Public Library a book entitled Hoosiers, A New History of Indiana, and a music recording which highlights the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's performance of Nico Muhly Cello Concerto as gifts on behalf of Indianapolis Public Library. These gifts were all selected by Jackie Nytes, director of Indianapolis Public Library. Mr Chu also sent the Collection and Documentary of the West Lake to Indianapolis Public Library as a gift, which reflects the history, culture and the people of Hangzhou.
After the book exchange ceremony, Mr. Chu showed the exchange books’ area which placed the books donated from Indianapolis Public Library. The First Lady was very glad to see books from her country. She even asked her daughter to take a photo for her in front of the book shelf with Mr. Chu.
Before her visit, the first lady expressed her interests of learning Chinese calligraphy. Thus a special calligraphy lesson was arranged for her. During the lesson, the Librarian named Chen Shuo introduced the history and techniques of calligraphy, and she learned to write a Chinese idiom上善若水, which means that the highest level of goodness is just like the moral character of water which moistens everything on earth without causing any conflict.
This special trip was very meaningful for both the First Lady and Hangzhou Public Library. The culture exchange may further promote bilateral exchanges.
