Paula Polk began the meeting by thanking the members of the Budget and Personnel Committees as well as all the members of the Executive Board. Paula welcomed the new members and noted that this was her last official meeting as President. Paula thanked Laura Walters for her six years of service on the Executive Board, Judith Jackson for her service as lay representative, Sunny Vandermark and the Metrowest Staff for all their help, and Tom Viti for his work as Treasurer.
The Consent Agenda was approved. (Walters/Viti)
New President, Leslie Schoenherr, thanked Paula Polk for her many hours of work and her work on resolving delivery issues. Executive Board Members introduced themselves.
Paula reported a recent meeting between representatives from Metrowest, Minuteman and Eastern. The delivery contract has been returned to Eastern with some adjustments. The Board has already approved a contract with an increase of $38.05 per stop. Sunny added our attorney will look at the contract, and revisions to the contract will be sent out. Sunny stated that delivery is going well and the Best Practice Task Force from Minuteman visited the sorting facility. Lynda Wills, president of the Minuteman Network was able to see how items are sorted. Sunny added that there is $23,000 in lost items, and the previous vendor, CD & L is looking for their final check. Sunny said that approximately $10,000 will be paid to CD & L after the lost items are paid for. Sunny distributed an Expenditure Report indicating that $157,905.25 had been spent on delivery, adding that there is a statewide Delivery Committee with 10 representatives. This committee will be issuing a report at the end of February 2006. Tom Jewell asked if Eastern and Metrowest had reached a philosophical agreement that if Metrowest libraries are able to find more efficient practices, delivery costs could be reduced. Sunny thought Eastern would be open to this and would be looking to extend the contract for 18 months.
Sunny reported that the MBLC’s Committee on Regional Reference had reached no consensus The MBLC has tabled the proposal to reduce Regional Reference. The Commissioners felt there was no reason to change Regional Reference at this time.
Rita Gavelis reported on the Education to Go Grant Application. The goal of the grant is to make classes accessible to librarians by creating instructional DVDs and providing a portable computer lab.
Sunny reported that Metrowest had received 2 applications to join MassCat from the Willet School in Norwood and the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium. The Lexington Middle and Elementary Schools have withdrawn from MassCat. Taunton schools have also withdrawn. A motion to approve the 2 new libraries was approved. (Viti/Schoenherr)
Sunny told the Board that Metrowest is calling schools to get forms returned. The Acton elementary schools have no librarians and will be removed them from Metrowest. A motion to remove the Acton elementary schools was approved. (Viti/Schoenherr)
Sunny informed the members that the MBLC is pushing to get the Legislative Agenda passed. Norwood High School has offered to host a Legislative Breakfast. Sunny will approach Newton Public Library about hosting one of the Legislative Breakfasts.
Sunny spoke about the Metrowest Value of Service FY05 Report, noting that Metrowest is the largest users of the statewide databases. Sunny informed members that she had attended a Technology Workshop at SEMLIS and that Metrowest’s Leadership Grant was recommended as an exemplary grant.
Paul Kissman reported that Katherine Dibble is a new Library Commissioner. Paul told the Board that he and Marlene Heroux are working to publicize libraries on the Massachusetts government website.
Meeting Adjourned at 3:55 P.M.
I want to thank everyone for their participation in the Annual Council of Members Meeting, and particularly Paula Polk, Laura Walters, and Tom Viti. Dee Magnoni, Director of the Olin College Library was a gracious hostess. Thank you Dee.
The first meeting of the Statewide Delivery Committee occurred on Wednesday, November 30. Following a lengthy discussion of delivery issues the 10 members of the committee self selected one or two topics to work on in sub-groups The topics are labeling, pre-sorting/sorting, cost of delivery, regional member library responsibilities, and communication. I will be working on regional member library responsibilities and communication. Susan McAlister, Executive Director of MLN is also on the committee and is on the labeling and cost of delivery sub-groups. See enclosed document in Consent Agenda.
Beth and I attended the MLA mini-conference in Lowell on November 17 & 18. Beth was a presenter at one of the sessions. It was an excellent conference. I also attended the Mass Book Award Dinner on the evening of November 17th. Many of the authors receiving awards were in attendance and made short remarks. A very enjoyable evening.
The Lexington elementary schools and one middle school have withdrawn from MassCat. They think the $250 fee is too high. On the other hand, we have two libraries applying to become members of MassCat. Rita and I will present information about the applicants at the Executive Board meeting.
The Barnes & Noble fund-raising voucher program was a good success. Slightly more that $51,000 worth of materials were purchased on December 2 & 3. The Regions and MLA will share just under $13,000 based on the v0chure sales. Use of the money is still being determined. The goal is to select a project that will benefit library users.
The joint Metrowest/Minuteman Delivery Committee met on Monday, December 5th. Paula will cover content during her presentation on delivery
The Best Practices Task Force met with me and Judy at Eastern Connection the afternoon of Thursday, December 8. The members of the Task Force have wanted to see the sort facility layout. I will give an update at the Board meeting.
The Regional Administrators and MBLC liaisons met on Wednesday, December 7th at the Northeast Regional office. We discussed a number of topics including MassBlast (a Simmons internship program funded through IMLS), Verizon Foundation Grants, Statewide Delivery Committee, and the OCLC WebJunction Rural Library Sustainability Program.
Judy has been working on the statistics for the Values of Service we produce for the members and MBLC annually. Enclosed in your packet is a summary of the services and total value to the membership. Each member received the value of service for his/her library.
When I presented the FY2006 Budget Revision I gave the Commissioners a pie charts showing the breakout of the program budget (including the ‘9506’ funds. I have included copies in the Consent Agenda.
This year I revised some of the format of the Metrowest Annual Report. For the first time there is a written statement from the President, the Regional Administrator, and some basic budget information. The Annual Report is presented to the MBLC at their December meeting when the Plan of Service & Budget for the upcoming fiscal year is first presented. Enclosed is a copy for each of you as part of the Consent Agenda.