NOBLE Executive Board
meeting
October 11, 2006
@ NOBLE
Call to Order: The meeting was
called to order by President Sue Koronowski at 2:25 p.m.
In Attendance: Sue Koronowski, Elisabeth Tully, Douglas Rendell, Linda
Hummel-Shea, Mary Rose Quinn, Karen Pangallo, Barbara Lachance, NOBLE-
Executive Director Ron Gagnon.
Approval of Minutes: A Motion to approve Minutes of the September
7, 2006 Executive Board meeting was forwarded by Karen Pangallo, seconded by
Elisabeth Tully, and unanimously approved.
FY 2006 Audit: Ron reported
that the auditor raised two issues in the 2006 audit. He questioned if the $1,000 MLA membership was
dedicated to lobbying. (He serves as the auditor of NMRLS and it was identified
for that purpose in the NMRLS audit.)Ron reviewed the letter from MLA President
Kathy Glick-Weil and stated that the membership fee was directed to support the
entire organization and their mission. Also addressed was the issue of “clean-up” of
items in NOBLE’s inventory. Staff will be doing a review of old software and
hardware and remove items no longer in use from inventory.
Barbara Lachance
forwarded a Motion to approve the 2006 audit. Mary Rose Quinn seconded the
Motion that was unanimously approved.
Executive Director’s Report:
Super Search: The Reference Roundtable
discussed Super Search on September 19. Ron reported that Serials Solutions has
fixed the problem with Thomson Gale databases. The databases are now returning
“true” keyword search results, rather than searching full text of the articles.
Ron inquired about how member libraries are using Super Search so far. Some
libraries are finding it very popular with patrons and others have found
limited use or have not rolled it out yet.
PC Reservation: Libraries are
beginning to roll out PC reservation. Libraries attended a full day of training
on October 4. Since most libraries are familiar with the program, a web module
was acquired by trading a day of training.
Working Groups: Sue Koronowski
has made appointments to working groups. ERDWG and the Collection Team have set
first meeting dates.
Consortium Partners Meeting: Ron and
Elizabeth were active participants in the Innovative Consortium Partners
meeting in
Delivery: Ron attended a
meeting of regional administrators and network staff on September 28. FKI Logistics
automated sorting equipment was discussed and will be investigated. The
equipment needs to interface with ILS to determine where the item is headed.
Ron mentioned that use of such a system will require that barcodes be placed on
the outside of circulating material.
Salary Schedule Revision:
Ron continued
the discussion began at the August Executive Board Meeting, proposing a review
and revision of the salary schedule. He reported that NOBLE has a history of
awarding step raises but not cost of living raises. His proposal includes a new
six-step salary schedule with 4% between steps as well as an annual cost of
living adjustment. There was discussion on how the cost of living adjustment
should be calculated. Members present agreed that the cost of living and other
factors should be reviewed each year prior to making a recommendation.
A motion to
accept the proposed salary schedule presented by Ron effective immediately was
forwarded by Mary Rose Quinn, seconded by Douglas Rendell and approved
unanimously.
A motion to
institute an annual adjustment to the salary schedule on July 1 in an amount to
be determined by executive board was forwarded by
Discussion on
employee health insurance followed. All members present were concerned with the
rising cost of health insurance for NOBLE employees. Ron reported that the
issue is complicated and not all employees take health insurance. Due to rising costs, a “lesser” health plan was implemented earlier
in the year with higher deductibles. Day surgery and hospitalizations now have
a deductible of $350 per event. There is an annual max of $1,400 for individual
coverage and $2,800 for family coverage.
A motion to
allow NOBLE to reimburse employees for day surgery and hospitalization
deductibles as specified in the health plan was forwarded by Barbara Lachance,
seconded by Elizabeth Tully and approved unanimously.
Discussion
continued on NOBLE’s contribution to employee retirement accounts. Currently
NOBLE contributes 8% of salary on a monthly basis. A motion to increase the contributions to the
employee retirement accounts from 8% to 9% beginning in FY ‘2007 was forwarded
by Sue Koronowski, seconded by Linda Hummel-Shea and approved unanimously.
FY 2007 Budget revisions:
Ron reviewed
revisions to the FY 2007 budget.
A motion to accept
the revised 2007 and 2008 budgets was forwarded by Karen Pangallo, seconded by
Sue Koronowski and approved unanimously.
Strategic Planning Update: Ron is still
looking for a consultant to lead NOBLE”s strategic planning efforts. Laverna
Saunders and Marshall Keys were both contacted and are unable to meet our
time-line. Other possibilities mentioned were Margo Crist, Jim Matarazzo, and
Karen Hyman. Board members agreed to do some more investigating for potential
consultants.
MCCLPHEI/NOBLE EbscoHost payments: Linda
Hummel-Shea and Karen Pangallo discussed the issue of EbscoHost subscription
cross-over between NOBLE and MCCLPHEI. A
MCCLPHEI sub-committee is studying the current funding formula and distribution
of costs and it was discovered
that the current
formula favors NOBLE member libraries. Ron agreed to get pricing for an
academic upgrade for the NOBLE colleges. Linda and Karen will follow-up with
MCCLPHEI.
Adjournment:-On a motion by
Karen Pangallo, seconded by Mary Rose Quinn, the Board voted to adjourn at 5:00
p.m.
Respectfully
submitted: Linda Hummel-Shea