diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 10831f3..5c74ad4 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.htm
 
 ## [v1.5.1] - 2020-07-21
 
-Ported to git
-
-Feature #19708 send a temporary password in the invite email if the account does not exists
+- Ported to git
+- Feature #19708 send a temporary password in the invite email if the account does not exists
+- Feature #26539 removed social networking library dependency 
 
 ## [v1.5.0] - 2017-11-29
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 2c22c68..f3eff36 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -71,9 +71,16 @@
 			<artifactId>jsoup</artifactId>
 			<version>1.6.2</version>
 		</dependency>
+		<!--needs to be provided -->
 		<dependency>
-			<groupId>org.gcube.portal</groupId>
-			<artifactId>social-networking-library</artifactId>
+			<groupId>org.gcube.social-networking</groupId>
+			<artifactId>social-service-model</artifactId>
+			<version>[1.2.0-SNAPSHOT, 2.0.0)</version>
+		</dependency>
+		<dependency>
+			<groupId>org.gcube.social-networking</groupId>
+			<artifactId>social-service-client</artifactId>
+			<version>[2.0.0-SNAPSHOT, 3.0.0)</version>
 			<scope>provided</scope>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gcube/portal/invites/InvitesManager.java b/src/main/java/org/gcube/portal/invites/InvitesManager.java
index b663fbc..d8c79d6 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gcube/portal/invites/InvitesManager.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gcube/portal/invites/InvitesManager.java
@@ -13,13 +13,12 @@ import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
 
 import org.apache.commons.codec.binary.Base64;
 import org.gcube.common.portal.PortalContext;
-import org.gcube.portal.databook.server.DBCassandraAstyanaxImpl;
-import org.gcube.portal.databook.server.DatabookStore;
-import org.gcube.portal.databook.shared.Invite;
-import org.gcube.portal.databook.shared.InviteOperationResult;
-import org.gcube.portal.databook.shared.InviteStatus;
-import org.gcube.portal.databook.shared.ex.InviteIDNotFoundException;
-import org.gcube.portal.databook.shared.ex.InviteStatusNotFoundException;
+import org.gcube.social_networking.social_networking_client_library.LibClient;
+import org.gcube.social_networking.socialnetworking.model.shared.Invite;
+import org.gcube.social_networking.socialnetworking.model.shared.InviteOperationResult;
+import org.gcube.social_networking.socialnetworking.model.shared.InviteStatus;
+import org.gcube.social_networking.socialnetworking.model.shared.exceptions.InviteIDNotFoundException;
+import org.gcube.social_networking.socialnetworking.model.shared.exceptions.InviteStatusNotFoundException;
 import org.gcube.portal.mailing.message.EmailAddress;
 import org.gcube.portal.mailing.message.Recipient;
 import org.gcube.portal.mailing.message.RecipientType;
@@ -52,7 +51,7 @@ public class InvitesManager {
 
 
 	private static InvitesManager instance;
-	private static DatabookStore store;
+	private static LibClient libClient;
 
 	private InvitesManager() { }
 
@@ -65,11 +64,15 @@ public class InvitesManager {
 	 * 
 	 * @return the unique instance of the store
 	 */
-	public static synchronized DatabookStore initStore() {
-		if (store == null) {
-			store = new DBCassandraAstyanaxImpl();
+	public static synchronized LibClient initStore() {
+		if (libClient == null) {
+			try {
+				libClient = new LibClient();
+			} catch (Exception e) {
+				throw new RuntimeException(e);
+			}
 		}
-		return store;
+		return libClient;
 	}
 
 	public InviteOperationResult sendInvite(
@@ -101,22 +104,18 @@ public class InvitesManager {
 		boolean emailResult = false;
 		try {
 			String vreName =  PortalContext.getConfiguration().getCurrentGroupName(request);
-			result = store.saveInvite(invite);
+			result = libClient.saveInviteLib(invite);
 			if (result == InviteOperationResult.ALREADY_INVITED) {
 				//if the invite existed already the id and temp passwd has to be the same of the original invite (in the persistence)
-				String inviteid = store.isExistingInvite(currScope, email);
+				String inviteid = libClient.isExistingInviteLib(currScope, email);
 				invite.setKey(inviteid);
-				String tempPwd = store.readInvite(inviteid).getControlCode(); 
+				String tempPwd = libClient.readInviteLib(inviteid).getControlCode();
 				invite.setControlCode(tempPwd);;
 			}		
 
 			emailResult = sendInviteEmail(request, invite, currUser, vreName, name, email, vreDescription, accountExists);
 			notifyInviteSent(request, currUser, currScope, invite, vreName);
 
-		} catch (AddressException e) {
-			_log.error("Email not valid " + e.getMessage());
-			e.printStackTrace();
-			return InviteOperationResult.FAILED;			
 		} catch (Exception e) {
 			_log.error("Something wrong happened retrieving the invite which seemd to be existing already " + e.getMessage());
 			e.printStackTrace();