NOBLE Executive Board meeting

April 13, 2005

@ NOBLE

 

In Attendance: Deb Abraham, Mary Rose Quinn, Dennis Kelley, Linda Hummel-Shea, Doug Rendell, Sue Koronowski, Martha Holden, Ron Gagnon

 

Call to Order: Mary Rose Quinn called the meeting to order at 2:15 p.m.

 

Doug Rendell forwarded a motion to suspend the order of the Agenda items to allow for voting items to be resolved initially. Deb Abraham seconded the motion that passed unanimously.

 

Capital Funds: Ron Gagnon recommended that $39,334 be transferred from NOBLE’s capital account to general operating account to cover grant expenses.  This includes NOBLE’s share of the telecommunication upgrade costs that have been paid from general operating funds.  Linda Hummel-Shea forwarded a motion to approve the transfer of $39,334 from capital to operating funds. Doug Rendell seconded the motion that passed unanimously.

 

Ron further recommended the transfer to capital of $13,032 in accrued interest from a CD that was renewed in February.  Deb Abraham forwarded the motion that was seconded by Doug Rendell and unanimously approved.

 

Lease Renewal: Ron Gagnon met with representatives of Flatley Co. in March.  Flatley offered a lease renewal for FY 2007-11 at $8/sq.ft. and no escalation over the life of the lease.  NOBLE as of the final escalation clause in current lease, pays $9.50/sq.ft.  Ron compared this offer to several other opportunities that exist locally.  Similar properties range from $12 to $25.50. Any move would entail moving costs plus some interruption of service. If NOBLE remains in current space, Ron will have to seek funding approval for minor renovations.  Doug Rendell presented a motion to authorize Ron to proceed in renewing the lease at the terms Ron negotiated with Flatley.  Martha Holden seconded the motion that passed unanimously.

 

PC Support Pricing: Ron Gagnon reported that costs of administering PC support program have remained stable.  He therefore recommends maintaining the current pricing level at a base price of $275 plus $95/pc.  Deb Abraham moved to approve the pricing as recommended by Ron.  Dennis Kelley seconded the motion that passed unanimously.

 

Approval of Minutes:  Doug Rendell forwarded a motion to approve the Minutes of November 10, 2004 – the last scheduled Executive Board meeting.  Linda Hummel-Shea seconded the motion that passed unanimously.

 

Treasurer’s Report: Ron Gagnon reported that NOBLE is in good shape as far as operating funds are concerned.  Insurance bills will be paid within the next month which will give us a more realistic picture of where we stand, but we are on target as projected for the fiscal year.

 

Dennis Kelley inquired as to the status of Verizon billing. Ron indicated that although NOBLE has made repeated attempts to notify Verizon of the billing error, NOBLE  is still being under-charged.

 

Linda Hummel-Shea forwarded a motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report.  Motion was seconded by Sue Koronowski and unanimously approved.

 

Executive Director’s Report:

 

            Telecomm Grant- Central site equipment will be replaced on 6/11/05.  NOBLE libraries can expect a service disruption in NOBLE network but outside access via the Internet will be operational.  This schedule was extended due to uncertainty regarding installation of T3 line into NOBLE’s current facilities. Replacement of routers for those libraries not already serviced will take place in May as will BlueSocket installation for those libraries that manage wireless networks.

 

            Tech Expo – Ron distributed a schedule of demonstrations and exhibits that will be held on June 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00p.m. at NOBLE.  All are encouraged to attend.

 

            Legislative Day – Elizabeth Thomsen and Ron Gagnon met with Jarrett Barrios along with Deb Abraham and Mary Puleo in a meeting arranged by the Everett library. Elizabeth and Ron also attended Ways & Means Day in February and the Legislative Breakfast in March.  Ron, as a Legislative Committee member of MLA, was responsible for the text of mailings for the legislative activities and testified at a Joint Ways & Means Committee hearing at MCC Lowell.

 

            Training – NOBLE was chosen as the second site to host Innovative training at a site other than Innovative’s office in California.  On March 30, NOBLE hosted ASAA training for other attendees throughout New England.  NOBLE also hosted Nelinet training on the use of Connexion, the OCLC cataloging interface that will replace two older interfaces, Passport and CatME.

 

            Innovative Users Group – Ron and Elizabeth will attend the IUG meeting the first week in May.  Since Elizabeth is on the IUG Steering Committee her entire hotel stay is being paid by the IUG.

 

            Other -

 

·         Elizabeth spoke at the North Shore Business Forum last month.  She presented information on business resources that are available to small business owners.  Elizabeth observed a lack of awareness in resources such as Boston Globe Online.

·         Ron and Elizabeth attended Computers in Libraries in Washington, DC in March.

·         Elizabeth and Ron will attend ALA in Chicago in June.

·         NOBLE hosted a meeting of systems librarians and Elizabeth presented  information on Firefox.

·         Martha Driscoll, George Lally and Ron met with Ann Connolly of Marblehead to help select equipment to be purchased with an anonymous gift of nearly $20,000 to upgrade OPACs in Marblehead.

·         NOBLE staff are providing assistance to member libraries including help with setting up templates, network issues and issues specific to campus libraries.

·         Ron attended the Network Administrator’s meeting in March.  This meeting focused on input for MBLC’s Long Range Plan revision.

·         Ron will be on vacation the week of April 18th.  Ron left emergency contact information with Mary Rose, Sue, Paula and Elizabeth.

·         NOBLE received 2nd half of E-rate funds for FY04, and has applied for 1st half of FY05 funds.  FY06 request has not yet been approved.

·         The Technology Plan needs to be updated in Fall 2005 for ongoing E-rate funding.  Three-years is the maximum allowed plan term.  The Plan must be submitted to Paul Kissman of the MBLC for approval.

·         NOBLE purchased three new pcs for staff use – one for ILL Center paid out of ILL funds, and the other two for NOBLE operations, paid from the operating budget.

·         NOBLE completed inventory of used equipment in the “graveyard”.  A few useable components were stripped.  Remaining inventory list will be verified.  Bob Guimond spot-checked the inventory as part of the NOBLE audit.

·         With the assistance of Linda Hummel-Shea, Ron changed out John Beauregard’s gift certificate.

 

FY2006 Grant Follow-up: Ron submitted two LSTA grant applications to the MBLC as follows:

 

·         Server Grant – NOBLE requested $42,043 to subsidize replacement of Innovative Millennium system server as well as the training & testing server.

·         Software Grant – Ron changed NOBLE’s request from $44,745 to $35,000 at the request of Marlene Heroux of the MBLC.  Ms. Heroux felt that the application would be more successful if it were more focused on federated searching as it is innovative and affects a great number of users.  Ron requested the full amount for federated searching plus promotion of the service, and dropped the request for other software enhancements.

 

The Board discussed the application process and Open Grant application.  Mary Rose Quinn praised Ron Gagnon for his hard work and commitment in rewriting the grant under tight deadline constraints.

 

Adjournment.

 

Respectfully submitted:

 

 

Martha Holden, Secretary