PRESENT: Deborah Abraham, John Beauregard, Camilla Glynn, Marjorie Hill-Devine, Dennis Kelley, Douglas Rendell, Bonnie Strong and Executive Director Ron Gagnon.

Doug called the meeting to order at 9:25 am.

Postponed.

None.

NOBLE staff are trying to put more material on the Staff Information System, such as minutes of our meetings.

Ron attended a meeting at the MBLC which used to be for agreeing on a formula for a telecomm subsidy but any decision has been postponed while we wait for decisions on the E-rate. He will be attending a 2 day conference at Simmons College on the virtual catalog and interlibrary loan. Seven vendors will be presenting demos.

NMRLS continues to book the training room for sessions, which seem to be working very well.

Our five year lease is up in May, 1999 and Ron is working with Pat Cloherty, Chair of our Site/Lease Committee to get some figures on what area rents are at this point. This is primarily for comparison purposes, because of course everyone would like NOBLE to stay where it is if rates are reasonable. Ron would also like to increase the occupancy rating above 52.

Doug and Ron met with Rob Maier earlier in the month. Rob said that SACL was looking for a full-fledged RFP process; Ron indicated that he feels that we met what was required by the letter of the process. He explained that the Central site staff are working on a full RFP and would go out with an open process if that’s what is decided. Ron said that Rob indicated that there could be support for up to $200,000 for cost of PCs for local libraries. Doug has been trying to find an avenue for an appeal, noting that it is important to have your plan on the table so that when money becomes available, you’re ready to move. Ron estimated that there is potentially $600,000 to $700,000 available through the MBLC, which hasn’t yet determined what it is doing with the funds.

Doug also stressed that we need to explore Plan B—what are our other options with III. We have a negotiating team ready to go which could be used to explore possibilities such as leasing, lease to purchase, etc.

It was also noted that there are differing opinions within the network about the advisability of moving to a PC-based system at all, while the MBLC seems to be pointing in that direction.

About half of the contracts with the public libraries have been received. Doug and Ron visited Revere and had a useful meeting regarding the costs of NOBLE membership and the opportunities for training, etc. available.

Ron described an ongoing process of review of our troubleshooting positions with less emphasis on problem phone calls and more on other duties. Now that Martha established a way for libraries to clear their own hung ports and Data Comm provides 24 hour telecomm service, there are fewer problem phone calls coming in. Job descriptions for a system operator at 12 hours per week and a bibliographic clerk at eight hours per week were reviewed. Both have the current operator rate of pay. In addition, Ron presented the PC support grant position, to start October 1, 1998 at a salary of $40,000. He noted that the grant will underwrite about ¾ of the cost for the first year, costing the "average" member library about $2,000. Marjorie Hill-Devine moved that the job descriptions be approved as presented, Camilla seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Deb Abraham brought up a problem with videos and other media circulating between libraries and seemingly disappearing with an "In Transit" status. Doug explained that there was in fact a problem and outlined the background, noting that July seems to have been a bad month. He had contacted Greg Pronevitz, Regional Administrator at NMRLS, and he got in touch with Minuteman Delivery. Within two days certain drivers were no longer working library delivery routes and an investigation continues. Martha Driscoll has provided network-wide statistics to help identify the extent of the problem. The police will be brought in as necessary. Doug will send a message to all libraries so that member staffs know that action is being taken.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 am.

Respectfully submitted,

Bonnie J. Strong

Secretary