Document #07-50

LIBRARIES OF MIDDLESEX AUTOMATION CONSORTIUM

EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

LMxAC Office

June 19, 2007

MINUTES

 

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:

Robert Belvin - New Brunswick

Mary Faith Chmiel – Spotswood

Margery Cyr – Old Bridge

Joe DaRold - Plainfield

Irene Goldberg - Monroe

Lewis Ostar - Middlesex College Library

Anne Roman – Piscataway

 

LMxAC STAFF PRESENT:

Eileen M. Palmer

Elisa Bash

 

The meeting was called to order at 9:50am by President Anne Roman.

 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA: (Document#07-36)

Margery Cyr moved to approve the agenda of the June 19, 2007 LMxAC Executive Board Meeting. Bob Belvin seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried.

 

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING:

Margery Cyr moved to approve the minutes of the May 17, 2007 LMxAC Executive Board meeting (Document #07-37). Bob Belvin seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried.

 

STRATEGIC PLANNING DISCUSSION: (Document#07-38)

Eileen discussed ways of moving forward with the strategic planning process. Eileen recommends seeking the assistance of a professional consultant to help guide us through the process.  Irene Goldberg moved to approve an RFQ process to find a consultant to assist us with the strategic planning process. The funds to pay for this process will be transferred from the Development Fund. Joe DaRold seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried. As part of the scope of services for RFQ, the consultant will be asked to conduct key interviews and perform an environmental scan. The Board recommended several consultants to include in the distribution of the RFQ. The Board began discussing a timeline for the entire process that includes online surveys, focus groups, target phone interviews, and retreat day for the Board. The goal is to have the plan completed and to be presented to the membership by November 2007 General Membership meeting.

 

 

TREASURER'S REPORT:

Lewis Ostar presented the detailed Financial Statements for May 31, 2007

(Document#07-40) Lewis noted the financials were in good order. There was some discussion of the Financial Policies and Procedure Manual. The reports were reviewed and filed for audit.

 

FINANCIAL POSITION STATEMENT

Balance as of 5/31/07:

Accounts Receivable                                                                   $   101,187.07

Checking                                                                                     $     91,201.38

Cash Management                                                                       $   674,365.68

Development Fund                                                                      $   316,890.43

Cash Assets Total:                                                                       $1,183,644.56

Liabilities:

Accounts Payable 6/19/07                                                           $    43,030.92

 

APPROVAL OF BILL LIST: (Document #07-41) The Board reviewed the Bill List for June 19, 2007. Lewis Ostar questioned Check#4264 for $745.00 to the Department of Homeland Security. Eileen explained that it is for governmental fees for the Green card Immigration process for an employee.  LMxAC will be reimbursed $170 to cover certain fees.  Mary Faith Chmiel moved to approve the Bill List for June 19, 2007. Irene Goldberg seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried.

 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT: (Document #07-42)

Eileen M. Palmer presented her report to the Executive Board and discussed several issues including: Diversity Leadership Grant; Unicorn; SAM; MURAL bookmarks; Activity Report and Meetings. Eileen spoke about working with Robert White, Director of BCCLS on a proposal to apply for a $25,000 LSTA grant with the Diversity Leadership program. Eileen mentioned the implementation of Acquisitions and that additional training will be offered in July. She reported that Lynne Merz, part-time Cataloger has resigned her position. At the present time, the position will not be filled. We have begun training the part-time operators to handle some copy cataloging procedures.

 

OLD BUSINESS:

FEDERATED SEARCHING RECOMMENDATION: (Document#07-43) Eileen reported that the vendor presentations gave everyone a good sense of the direction to take with the federated search product. She explained that all products faired well on functionality but the Serial Solutions product “360 Search,” made better sense because of the great price and good customer service. Eileen recommends moving forward with the implementation of the Serial Solutions product to see how much libraries want to invest in this service. SirsiDynix and Serial Solutions will handle configuration on their end. The installation will begin with the Central site and MCC College Library.

Irene Goldberg moved to authorize the implementation of the Serial Solutions 360 Search product. Bob Belvin seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried

 

FINANCIAL MANUAL (Document#07-44) During the Treasurer’s report, there was discussion regarding the Financial Policies and Procedures Manual. Several Board members made amendments to the wording in sections of Maintenance and Distribution of General Ledger, Cash Receipts and the process of Checks and Manual Checks. The Board agreed that two signatures by authorized signers will be required on checks over $15,000. The Board approved the new financial policies and procedures manual with the amendments made by Board members.

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NON-PROFIT FINANCE FUND PROPOSAL (Document#07-45) Eileen presented the Board with the proposal of the Nonprofit Finance Fund to perform a Business Analysis on LMxAC finances and provide advisement on future financial planning.

Joe DaRold move to accept the proposal from Non-Profit Finance Fund. Irene Goldberg seconded the motion. Six members were in favor. One member abstained

 

NEW BUSINESS:

 

INTERNET BANDWIDTH RECOMMENDATION (Document#07-46)

Eileen explained to Board members that the current Internet connection with the State Library is experiencing periods when bandwidth bursts above its capabilities especially during high peak usage periods. This has recently caused slower response time at a few of our member libraries. Eileen indicated that we would eventually need the upgrade and it would be a good move in gaining a higher level of bandwidth. Eileen recommends an upgrade to a T3 to meet the same level of connectivity that currently exists in the connection between the libraries and LMxAC. Irene Goldberg moved to approve the upgrade to a new T3 circuit. Mary Faith Chmiel seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried

 

BANKING RECOMMENDATION (Document#07-47) Eileen met with Lucy Biller, representative of Commerce Bank. Lucy presented a proposal on a checking account geared to Non-profit corporations. The new account would offer interest and no fees with monthly statements that are straight forward. Lucy analyzed three months of information and projected monthly and yearly interest we could receive with an account at Commerce. Eileen made the recommendation to make a change to a new Checking account with Commerce Bank. Bob Belvin moved to pass the resolution to accept Commerce Bank as LMxAC official bank for its checking account. Irene Goldberg seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried.

 

BAKER AND TAYLOR PROPOSAL (Document#07-48)

Eileen explained the two options on Title Source pricing. The first option will cost the Central site $500 to obtain the Gold version and $195 for booklist and libraries could purchase additional ID’s from LMxAC for $265 to be able to download MARC records. The libraries could be trained to create a selection lists to order online so it will decrease the dependency on OCLC. The second option is for libraries using acquisition would need to transfer records into Unicorn. The cost for libraries would be $1,195.  Margery Cyr moved to approve the Title Source agreement with Baker & Taylor. Bob Belvin seconded the motion. Six members were in favor. One member abstained. The motion carried.

 

OTHER:

Jamesburg- The Board spoke briefly about the future of Jamesburg Library. Board members all agreed to move forward with implementation steps towards membership for Jamesburg. There is currently some concern about attempts to demunicipalize libraries and its potential impact on local library funding. LMxAC is the only NJ automation consortium that does not have minimum funding requirements for members and we may need to look at our Bylaws in that regard.

 

Comprise SAM product: The renewal contract for SAM is expected in August. Some individual libraries have voiced discontentment with the product and may choose to drop out. Comprise has not shown any successful resolution to the current problems reported by these libraries. Eileen spoke about Envisionware being a highly customizable product that might meet those member’s needs.  She will explore discounted pricing.

 

COMMUNICATIONS:   The Communications included: Letter from Smith, Smith, & Curley and the retainer agreement to review personnel policy manual.

 

ADJOURNMENT:

Margery Cyr moved to adjourn the meeting. Bob Belvin seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried. The next meeting is scheduled for July 19, 2007 at 10:00am at the LMxAC Office.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Margery Cyr, Recording Secretary