Minerva Executive Board Meeting

In attendance: Nancy Crowell, Kevin Davis, Shelly Davis, Janet Elvidge (telephone), Judy Frost, Tim McFadden, Steve Norman, James Rathbun, Alisia Revitt (remote), Liz Soares, Amber Tatnall (telephone), Lynn Uhlman (remote), Cindy White

The meeting was called to order at 10:am.

1. Review and acceptance of the minutes of the Sept. 9, 2015 meeting – Shelly Davis made a motion to approve the minutes as amended (Nancy Crowell added to the list of attendees and spelling of feasibility corrected), Nancy Crowell seconded, and the minutes were approved by the board.
2. Old business
   • Fall Users Council recap – Steve Norman asked for feedback on the fall Users Council. People noted these positives: interesting showcase presentations, good format, excellent food. Some negatives: technology challenges, disappointing attendance. Nancy Crowell asked if Minerva had any requirements for attendance similar to the Cataloging Attendance Policy. Each Minerva library should be represented but there is no official policy.
   • Review of Minerva’s policies – Steve reported that this has been completed and he needs to send the completed information for posting to the Minerva website.
   • Open lending/collection development issues and non-contribute status – This issue involves libraries setting items’ status to non-requestable in MaineCat. Steve and James Jackson Sanborn have drafted a letter which is ready to be sent to libraries whose DVD/av materials fall into this category. The letter is non-accusatory in tone and asks the libraries to explain their intentions. Kevin Davis noted his concern that the MaineCat lending policy was put into place without discussion and/or board approval. Issues regarding collection development are wide- ranging and may fall under the purview of the newly-formed Innovation Committee.
   • Minerva strategic plan – The Minerva Mission statement was approved at the fall Users Council and is ready to be used on marketing materials, the website, etc. The formation of three new committees was also discussed at the Users Council with no objections noted. We are well on track with the action steps developed at the strategic planning retreat.
3. New business
   • Updating Memorandum of Understanding – Judy Frost, Steve Norman and James Jackson Sanborn are working on updating the MOU. The next step is a meeting with Jamie Ritter. Judy Frost has developed a draft of a revised MOU which removes the Maine State Library from the agreement; she will send a copy to the board. The previous MOU, dated 200is posted on the Minerva website.
   • New committees (Innovation, Communication/Marketing, Financial Feasibility) – The three new committees recommended by the strategic planning process have been established with chairs and some members. They are as follows:
     Innovation: Shelly Davis, chair; Tim McFadden, Sarah Sugden, members
     Communication/Marketing: Liz Soares, chair; Janet Elvidge, member
     Financial Feasibility: Amber Tatnall, chair; James Jackson Sanborn, Steve Norman, members
     It was recommended that all committees have 5 members and begin coming up with goals.
   • Allocations of codes – Steve Norman said that this topic was suggested at the fall Users Council.
     When Minerva was first established, libraries were not limited to a certain number of codes or types, but now they are. Lynn Uhlman said that the Cataloging Standards Committee would like to limit the number of itypes. Since the board needs some direction how to proceed with this, Kevin Davis suggested that Maine InfoNet staff tell the board which codes need to be limited in number and by how many. After some discussion, Steve Norman asked Alisia Revitt and Lynn Uhlman to compile a list of issues pertaining to codes/types and what the current choices are.
4. Reports
   • Maine InfoNet – No report from James Jackson Sanborn. Lynn Uhlman reported that she is working on an email to send out to Minerva members regarding the issue of stuck holds and what all libraries should be doing to prevent them and keep the “plumbing from running smoothly.” She also asked for the executive board’s help in enforcing compliance with tasks that need to be done regularly. Alisia Revitt reported that the next Sierra upgrade is scheduled for 3 am on Nov. 1 Libraries operating behind a closed firewall will need to get administrative permission to install jar files. Alisia will send out an email with instructions about how to reinstall Sierra in case anyone should need to do so. There will then be a patch after the upgrade is complete.
   • Maine InfoNet Representative – Judy Frost reported that she has had no responses from Minerva members after her request at the Users Council for input regarding Maine InfoNet membership models. She noted that MIN, unlike Minerva, does not have any contingency funds. Maine InfoNet currently has some concerns with Innovative Interfaces: there has been some upheaval in the management structure with the CEO gone and another senior executive “missing;” no work being done on INN-Reach (particularly needed for Balsam libraries); and Colby, Bowdoin, and Bates feeling III is not responding to academic library needs. There are 3 years left on our contract with III.
   • Minerva Technical – See Maine InfoNet report above.
   • Finance – Amber Tatnall stated that she has no new report since the fall Users Council. She had sent the latest financial information to Alisia who displayed it for the board. Amber noted she is creating a Minerva Treasurer’s Calendar and showed her draft.
5. Committee Reports
   • Membership Committee – no report. Steve Norman said he has someone in mind to chair this committee and will ask him/her.
   • Circulation Standards – James Rathbun said he has no new report since the Users Council.
     Nancy Crowell noted she attended a meeting of southern Maine librarians and several mentioned  a concern about Minerva’s long loan period and feeling like they were being ignored by the board.
     The board noted that members can bring items to them as well as attend meetings to make their  opinions known, as Joshua Tiffany of Gray Public Library did. After lots of discussion, it was decided to have Nancy check back with those who had concerns to see if they have any suggestions for a process improvement.
   • Cataloging Standards – The committee sent a written report with a request for an amendment to the Attendance Policy. Nancy Crowell made a motion that we accept the policy as amended, Liz Soares seconded, and it was approved by the board.
6. Adjournment – Nancy Crowell made a motion to adjourn and the meeting was adjourned at 12:pm.

Next board meeting scheduled for January 1201snow date January 20, 2016.

Respectfully submitted,

Cindy White