LMxAC Executive Board Meeting – April 22, 2010 2

(Document #10-29)

LIBRARIES OF MIDDLESEX AUTOMATION CONSORTIUM

EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

Middlesex Public Library

April 22, 2010

MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Ingrid Bruck –Long Branch

Chris Carbone – South Brunswick

Mary Faith Chmiel – Spotswood

Chuck Dolan – Middlesex Community College

Joe DaRold – Plainfield

Irene Goldberg - Monroe

Cheryl McBride – North Brunswick

MEMBERS ABSENT:

May Lein Ho – Middlesex Public

LMxAC STAFF PRESENT:

Eileen M. Palmer

Elisa Bash

The meeting was called to order at 9:45am by President Mary Faith Chmiel

APPROVAL THE AGENDA: (Document#10-20)

Joe DaRold moved to approve the April 22 agenda. Chris Carbone seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING: (Document#10-21)

Joe DaRold moved to approve the minutes from the March 19 meeting. Irene Goldberg seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried.

TREASURER'S REPORT: (Document #10-22)

Cheryl McBride presented the Budget Report of March 2010. She reported that there are no issues as we move toward the end of the fiscal year. Eileen noted that software maintenance is high due to the current payment of the annual SirsiDynix bill. The reports were filed for audit.

BILL LIST: (Document#10-23)

Eileen reviewed the bill list for April 2010. The check to Plaza 35 includes 2009 building escalation. The check to Sun Microsystems is for hardware maintenance on the test server. Some Board members questioned checks to individual libraries. Eileen explained that these libraries requested their E-rate refund by check. Irene Goldberg moved to approve the Bill List for April 2010. Cheryl McBride seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT: (Document#10-24) Eileen presented the written Director’s Report provided to Board members. Eileen discussed issues with collection development. Some libraries have inherited new material from high school libraries that have recently closed due to budget cuts and have questions about bringing those materials into the database. It was suggested to create a sample collection development policy. It was also recommended to provide collection development tools at the local level. Eileen mentioned that a workshop given by Katy White of Baker & Taylor about using Title Source had been well attended by library staff. Book discussion kits are now available through Monroe Library. Betty Lau has forwarded emails requesting copies of some of the titles that are needed to fulfill the kits. It was suggested that the PR/Membership Committee create and post a list of the available book discussion kits. Eileen reported that during the weekend of May 1, Ann and Mei will be preparing the Symphony Upgrade. Ann will be holding a meeting tomorrow at South Brunswick Public Library to review with circulation staff some of the significant changes with this current upgrade. One change would be that the Patron name will now be separated into two fields. Eileen noted that Steve and Mike have been working hard migrating libraries over to cable with Comcast and Cablevision. Eileen spoke briefly about the Public Policy committee and funding issues.

OLD BUSINESS:

a.  Logo Design (Document#10-25)-The Board reviewed the revised logo prepared by Dawson Studios. The group discussed the two color choices as well as whether or not to modify the organization initials to LMAC or stick with LMxAC. There was lengthy discussion about modifying the initial to LMAC. The board agreed to maintain the initial with the x but would consider the change at a later date. The Board members liked the Gold and Blue colors but had concerns with reproduction photocopies with the gold color. It was agreed to consider deepening the gold color and darkening the blue color. Irene Goldberg moved to accept the gold and blue logo with the x layout, artwork and camera ready art. Joe DaRold seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried.

NEW BUSINESS:

a.  Circ Committee Report (Document #10-27). Eileen reported that the Circ committee made the recommendation to modify the threshold for fines. The Board discussed and agreed that $5.00 was a low threshold and it should be the same amount among all libraries. It is a Circulation Protocols committee recommendation to move to increase the fine threshold from $5.00 to $10.00. All members were in favor. The motion carried.

b.  Planning Committee Report (Document #10-26). The committee discussed State and Local budgets cut issues. Committee members were asked to prioritize the services that are in jeopardy of being eliminated by these cuts. Eileen provided a list of priorities within the packet. She spoke about the top 5 issues. The biggest issues are delivery and statewide databases. Eileen spoke about services provided by the regions like continuing education that would no longer exist. The Technology committee is looking into other email, website and domain services options. One possible option is the use of g-mail. Eileen received a quote from EBSCO. She noted that it would be best if members did not leap into individual quotes and purchases from database vendors. We would have more bargaining power as a group. The Board continued with length discussions of funding and advocacy.

OTHER: Eileen noted that she will be on vacation at the time of the next Board meeting on May 27. It is also a few days prior to Memorial Day weekend holiday. She asked Board members to consider postponing the monthly meeting until June 3. Chris Carbone moved to approve the rescheduling of the Board meeting to Thursday, June 3. Irene Goldberg seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried.

COMMUNICATIONS: There are no communications

ADJOURNMENT:

The meeting was adjourned at 11:30am.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ingrid Bruck