NOBLE Executive Board meeting

May 9, 2007

@ NOBLE

In Attendance: NOBLE Executive Director Ron Gagnon , Sue Koronowski, Linda Hummel-Shea, Barbara LaChance, Doug Rendell, Dennis Kelley, Karen Pangallo, Martha Holden

I. Call to Order: President Sue Koronowski called the meeting to order at 2:15 p.m.

II. Approval of Minutes: A Motion to approve Minutes of the April 2, 2007 Executive Board meeting was forwarded by Doug Rendell, seconded by Barbara LaChance, and unanimously approved.

III. Treasurer’s Report: Ron Gagnon distributed the Treasurer’s Report as of April 30, 2007. Ron noted that the purchase of the new copier includes 2 yrs. maintenance funds that had been budgeted for copier maintenance plus $1,500 from Furniture & Equipment were moved to Line 65805 – Server Upgrade. Motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report was forwarded by Barbara LaChance, seconded by Linda Hummel-Shea and unanimously approved.

IV. Director’s Report: Following are items reported by Executive Director Ron Gagnon:

ü Elizabeth Thomsen and Ron Gagnon attended the MLA Annual Conference in Sturbridge. NOBLE won a 1^st Place PR award for a bookmark to market federated searching. Many other NOBLE libraries won PR awards as well.

ü Elizabeth Thomsen and NOBLE Website Editor Kevin Grocki presented a program at MLA on Friday. The program “Extreme Makeover, Library Website Edition” was well received.

ü Ron and Elizabeth will attend the Innovative Users Group meeting in San Jose next week. Elizabeth will present two Create Lists sessions. Ron will attend an Extended Public Library Consortia session and meet with Innovative sales rep. Barbara Herzog .

ü Ron hired Tom Clarke as the new part-time PC technician. Tom started in this position April 19.

V. Montserrat Membership: Ron received a call and visit from Cheri Coe of Montserrat. Cheri gave Ron an update on the status of Montserrat’s financial condition. Montserrat will be unlikely to be able to sustain full NOBLE membership and is considering other options including purchasing a stand-alone system. Ron and Cheri discussed the possibility of continuing NOBLE membership in some fashion as this would probably be in the best interests of Montserrat in avoiding unanticipated auxiliary costs (cataloging, etc) related to a standalone system; and NOBLE, in covering variable costs associated with Montserrat’s membership, and in keeping costs in line for other members.

NOBLE has a current policy that provides for associate membership. As it stands, the associate member must be a non-circulating library with fewer than 15,000 items. After discussion, the Executive Board decided that the most beneficial option for NOBLE would be to propose a revised associate membership. Doug Rendell forwarded a motion to approve an amended Associate Membership Policy that would be available to libraries with collections of 15,000 or fewer items, but would allow for circulation, an annual fee of $10,000, and an annual status review. Millennium services would be limited to circulation and catalog. Motion was seconded by Karen Pangallo and unanimously approved. This item will be presented to the Members for their consideration at the next meeting.

VI. Strategic Plan: Ron Gagnon noted that at the last Executive Board meeting, we had approved 6 general goals that are the basis for the proposed NOBLE FY08-12 Strategic Plan. Ron distributed the proposed Strategic Plan that includes vision, mission statement, background, goals as approved, and the FY08 Action Plan. The Executive Board reviewed the document and recommended minor changes. Dennis Kelley forwarded a motion to approve the Strategic Plan as recommended by the Executive Board. Karen Pangallo seconded the motion that was unanimously approved. .

VII. PC Support – Ron suggested that in light of anticipated increases in the cost of providing PC support that the Executive Board consider a 5.5% increase in pricing for participating libraries. Ron noted that NOBLE subsidizes the program at a level of $24,000/year. This contribution has been the same since the program inception. Ron noted that we have a part-time position to fund and the future of Saugus’ participation is questionable. After discussion, the Executive Board agreed to table further consideration until the status of Saugus is more definite and there is a better estimate of NOBLE’s financial position with respect to PC support.

VIII. EBSCO – Ron reported that ERDWG considered options with regard to the renewal of NOBLE’s EBSCO contract that expires at the end of June. After discussing the available packages, ERDWG recommends that NOBLE renew the same core package. The cost increase will be between 4-5%, for a change from approximately $3,660 per library this year to approximately $3,800 next year. All NOBLE members pay for EBSCO as our value pricing is based on 100% of membership. Dennis Kelley forwarded a motion to authorize that NOBLE renew the same basic EBSCO package at a price not to increase of more than 5% per year. Motion was seconded by Karen Pangallo and unanimously approved.

IX. Bylaws Revision – Ron distributed the text of a proposed bylaw revision for the Executive Board’s consideration. The revisions outline obligations and expectations of members with regard to the NOBLE network. Proposal is to add sections as follows:

2.4 Maintenance of Membership. Membership shall be maintained by the annual payment of assessments, execution of an annual contract, and compliance with all the requirements of membership as stated in these Bylaws and in such other policies as may be approved by the Members of the Corporation.

2.5 Resignation of Membership. Resignation or termination from the membership shall be made upon written notice to the President at least one (1) fiscal year prior to withdrawal. Members who have resigned or whose membership has been terminated for cause shall receive no refund on unused portions of any of their paid annual costs.

2.6 Revocation of Membership. Members who fail to satisfy minimum criteria, as established by the Meeting of the Members, shall have their membership revoked. NOBLE reserves the right to revoke the membership of non-paying Members and may curtail network services for that library for the remainder of the fiscal year.

2.7 Reestablishment of Membership. If a library’s membership lapses, is revoked or otherwise ceases, it will be required to pay an initiation fee as established by Executive Board, including payments to NOBLE and charges incurred for system capacity, configuration and reconnection to reestablish membership.

Linda Hummel-Shea forwarded a motion to approve the bylaw revision. Motion was seconded by Dennis Kelley and unanimously approved. This matter will be brought to the members for approval at the next meeting.

X. Federated Search – ERDWG considered the benefits of federated search and the costs associated with renewal of the product (dollar cost and staff time). Our FY2007 federated search costs of $30,000 were completely covered by an LSTA grant from the MBLC. NOBLE budgeted $48,000 last fall in our FY2008 budget to continue federated searching. ERDWG recommends not renewing federated search but instead using the remainder of the allocated funds for another technology initiative. Ron reported that NOBLE staff can be overwhelmed by the demands on staff that are generated by federated search issues. Staff often has difficulty keeping abreast of other technological advances as they spend more time than anticipated on federated search issues. Ron stated that staff time would be better used in seeking out new products and vendors than in maintaining federated search. Doug Rendell forwarded a motion to accept the recommendation of ERDWG that NOBLE discontinue federated search and propose other options for use of the funds allocated for federated search. Karen Pangallo seconded the motion that was unanimously approved.

XI. Downloadables Update – Ron reported that he is waiting for a quote from NetLibrary with regard to downloadables. NetLibrary recently split from Recorded Books. Ron will see how this affects the downloadables market and will keep the Executive Board informed as to the status.

XII. Wireless Security Maintenance Update – Ron distributed the NOBLE Telecommunications Policy that is currently in effect. He asked the Executive Board to consider whether individual libraries have the obligation to maintain wireless security at their own expense, in light of the implementation of wireless networks at various libraries. It was noted that libraries implemented wireless networks in a variety of ways, some paying for their own and others receiving grant funding via NOBLE, and that some libraries were unaware of their obligation to pay for annual maintenance of wireless security controllers. The Executive Board considered Paragraph 4 of the Telecommunications Policy that states:

Provision of customer or other access to the NOBLE network utilizing equipment not owned or managed by the library, including customer-owned PCs, wired or wireless, must be approved by NOBLE. Additional network security enhancements may be required for secure implementation and are the responsibility of the library.

After discussion, during which the Executive Board acknowledged some hardship to libraries that finalized their budgets without planning for the cost of wireless security maintenance, Linda Hummel Shea forwarded a motion to require that individual libraries maintain and pay for their own wireless security controllers per Paragraph 4 of the NOBLE elecommunications Policy. Motion was seconded by Martha Holden and unanimously approved.

XIII. Adjournment.

Respectfully submitted:

Martha Holden, Secretary