1. CALL TO ORDER/WELCOME—Doug Rendell. Doug called the meeting to order at 10:10.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES. Linda Weinstein moved that the minutes from the September 24 meeting be approved. Camilla Glynn seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

3. VOTE: FY 2000 BUDGET. The FY 2000 budget had been presented at the previous meeting. Dee Hanley moved acceptance, Camilla Glynn seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The roll call vote is appended to these minutes.

4. TREASURER’S REPORT—Tom Cesarz. Tom presented the report, which indicated that spending is on target. Deborah Abraham moved to accept the report. Linda Weinstein seconded it and it was passed unanimously.

5. MANAGERS’ REPORTS. Ron reported that Ebsco titles will increase by 300. Also, he was meeting with Greg Pronevitz regarding the continuation of the contracts with the region. Elizabeth Thomsen reported on the current workshops. She is also preparing for a collection Management meeting in December. Patrick Cloherty commented that the NOBLE Children’s Library on the Web is fantastic and urged the rest of us to take a new look at it. Martha Driscoll reported on another agenda item, the Off-Hours Support Hotline. This is to handle emergencies on weekends when a library may really need technical support. This paging system works off of a cell phone which Martha has. Dee asked about compensation, as this is additional work for Martha. Doug said that this had been discussed at the Executive Board meeting and that Martha was keeping track of her hours. He also suggested that people take this information back to their libraries and stress that this service is for a true emergency, such as the whole library or one whole circulation desk is down with no explanation.

6. FY 2000 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN. Ron explained that the dates listed for a new system reflect a "worst case scenario," that since this was written there had been discussion by the Executive Board with recognition that people would like to speed up the timetable. Deborah asked why the action plan didn’t state very directly that we’re getting new system. Ron answered that this was in our FY 99 Action Plan. Patrick reiterated that we are definitely getting a new system and Marjorie explained that the Executive Board and the Central Site staff were doing everything they could to speed up the timetable. Dee Hanley moved to accept the FY 2000 Action Plan with an additional cover letter to explain that this continues decisions made in FY 99. Camilla Glynn seconded and it passed unanimously.

7. GRANT UPDATES—Ron Gagnon. Ron explained that the MBLC has some funds which they are able to distribute for technology and NOBLE should have an excellent shot at some if we apply for what is to be sure to be a short schedule. They are writing an RFP, looking at PC based systems, one that would not necessarily support terminals. It was thought that the RFP process and grant process could run in parallel. Linda asked if we knew who CW/Mars had chosen. Ron said that they had chosen III.

Pat asked more about the PC component to clarify as best we can at this stage. Ron explained that we could build in $200,000 as a local cost for PCs into the project which would help libraries get over the hump. The Board tries to reimburse projects at 60% of the total cost of the project; therefore, 40% of the cost of PCs would have to be paid by the libraries getting them as overseen by NOBLE. The details still need to be determined. Sharon Gilley asked if she should leave the meeting with a sense of obligation about the need to convert to PCs. She further said that she does not want to provide PCs and not provide a new system. It was emphasized that there is no question that we will have a new system. Pat said that the system is that the end of its life; we all have to be aware of this fact as well as the fact that we will have to come up with the money somehow.

On the matter of the PC Support Grant, Ron announced that NOBLE has hired Dean Baumeister for their position. Dean has worked in a number of NOBLE libraries and will start work November 3. The Staff Information System will have lots of information which will benefit everyone. Elizabeth emphasized that we’ll now have an expert on our library automation workstations.

9. NEW BUSINESS. Dee Hanley announced that the legislative breakfast was tentatively planned for March 5 in Wakefield. Deborah Abraham passed around the spreadsheet she put together with information on purchasing PCs.

10. ADJOURNMENT. The motion to adjourn was made by Linda Weinstein, seconded by Bonnie Strong and voted unanimously at 12:00.

Respectfully submitted,

Bonnie J. Strong, Secretary