1. CALL TO ORDER
This regularly scheduled meeting of the CLAN Steering Committee was called to order by President Regina Slezak at 9:35 A.M. at the Warwick Public Library.

Steering Committee members in attendance: Dan Austin, Susan Aylward, Judy Bell, Carol Brouwer, Laura Marlane, Leslie Page, Beth Perry, Regina Slezak, Eileen Socha, Karen Taylor, Ulla Virks. Absent: Shirley Long, Kathryn Taylor

Also in attendance: Joan Gillespie (CLAN); John Carney (EPL), Doug Pearce (WAR), Mary Ellen Hardiman (NPR), Barbara Neri (NPR)

2. AUDITOR'S REPORT FOR FY 2006 (CLAN Accountant, Bob Allen)
Bob Allen presented the final version of the Statement of Activities and Balance Sheet for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2006. He reported that the organization is in good financial shape and that Elaine did a fine job keeping the records and handling financial details through the course of the year. Regina offered the Steering Committee's collective thanks to Elaine for handling all of the financial activity and for doing such a good job.
VOTED unanimously to accept the year-end financial report from the accountant, Bob Allen. (Carol Brouwer, Beth Perry).

3. MINUTES OF October 26, 2006 STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
VOTED unanimously to accept the minutes of the October 26, 2006 meeting as presented. (Carol Brouwer, Ulla Virks).

4. TREASURER'S REPORT
There was no new information for the Treasurer's Report from the membership meeting on November 14th.

5. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT-Joan Gillespie
Joan reported on the following items:
TELEFORMS-Peter, Cindy, and Joan are all in agreement that Teleforms is not a robust enough program to handle the additional 76 messages that CLAN would need for it to operate in the way that everyone would like it to operate. Joan recommends that instead of putting another $30,000 into a product that is not working well, we should do some more investigating of possible alternatives. In the meantime, she will encourage the membership to use e-mail notification whenever possible. Regina asked about Triple I's reaction and Joan says they are amazed we do not like the product. Joan continues to voice the network's displeasure with Teleforms to her contacts at Triple I.

TRAINING ISSUES-Joan explained her concerns about the need for ongoing training post-implementation of Triple I. She wondered about the possibility of establishing a committee to look what type of training is needed and how the network could implement such a service. The Steering Committee discussed the possibilities. Joan is continuing to negotiate with Triple I and how we can arrange for Peter to take the advanced system administration training from Triple I without having to go to the West Coast for it.
 USER LICENSES-Joan alerted the Steering Committee to a discounted price for additional user licenses. The Steering Committee discussed this, but as there is not a pressing need for additional licenses immediately, the Committee asked Joan to survey the membership to see how many new licenses we might need in the short-term and in the long-term.

PAWTUCKET PUBLIC LIBRARY REQUEST-Joan reported on a request from the Pawtucket Public Library regarding adding the collection of a local history research center to CLAN, though the research center is not a CLAN member. There was a great deal of discussion about this. It is more complicated than it appears, because it brings up questions about the definition of a public library; about access to collections; and has ramifications for membership issues. The Steering Committee decided that at this time we would have to say no to the Pawtucket Public Library's request because it would require a lot of discussion before we could say yes.

CLAN TECHNOLOGY PLAN-Joan presented a technology plan to the Steering Committee, which is a requirement for the e-rate process. There was some discussion about the process of approval and not having had enough lead time to read and consider the plan. Joan explained that it can be amended later once the Steering Committee has had a chance to reflect upon it, but that there is a time constraint on getting the plan through the approval process in order to meet the e-rate requirement.
        VOTED unanimously to approve the technology plan as presented by Joan. (Judy Bell, Carol Brouwer).

6. SYSTEM STAFF REPORTS (Peter Bennett, Cindy St. Amour, Rick Payette) and COMMTTEE REPORTS
Joan presented the written reports from Peter, Cindy, and Rick as well as reports from the various CLAN Committees. The Steering Committee asked to have these reports in advance of the meeting so that committee members do not have to take time at the meeting to read and digest the reports. There was additional discussion at this point on the whole communications picture. There was general consensus that communication remains a significant problem that needs to be addressed.

7. LIB FUTURES COMMITTEE REPORT (Eileen Socha)
Eileen reported that the committee met November 17th to develop the process of what the Commission is going to do. There is another meeting scheduled for December 14th at the State House, which will include the General Assembly members. They will be commissioned at that time.

8. OLD BUSINESS
CLAN NAME CHANGE-Joan outlined the steps necessary for implementing the CLAN name change. The Steering Committee decided that the May annual meeting or the beginning of the new fiscal year would be a good effective date for the change to take place. The Committee looked at a number of logo options that several graphic designers working with Joan had created. Joan will try to whittle the choice down to 3, based on the feedback that she received from the Steering Committee. She has already reserved domain names in anticipation of the change. And she will consult with an attorney regarding legal issues of changing the name.

DEPRECIATION POLICY-Joan presented a revised depreciation policy that calls for the capitalization of items that cost more than $1,000 when purchased.
VOTED unanimously to approve the Depreciation Policy as presented. (Ulla Virks, Eileen Socha).

ST. GEORGE'S SCHOOL-Joan presented a proposal to add non-public libraries as affiliate members. There was some discussion on the percentage of the fees that an affiliate member would pay a library and it was the consensus of the Steering Committee that 100% of the fees would be an appropriate percentage. Joan will get the proposal ready for a membership vote at the February general membership meeting.

LIFE INSURANCE QUOTES-Joan presented the results of her investigations regarding quotes for life insurance. CLAN does not qualify to insure through the RI Interlocal Trust.
VOTED unanimously to offer life insurance for six employees at 1 times salary with a maximum of $100,000 coverage along with Accidental D&D for a total annually of $2,037.84. (Karen Taylor, Laura Marlane)

TELEPHONE SYSTEM QUOTES-Joan presented quotes from three telephone companies for a new telephone system for the CLAN office. In concert with Ken and Rick, Joan recommended the hybrid system offered by American Teleconnect.
VOTED to approve the hybrid phone system offered by American Teleconnect at the best price Joan can negotiate. (Susan Aylward, Judy Bell).

9. NEW BUSINESS
STEERING COMMITTEE MEETINGS JANUARY THROUGH JUNE-
The Steering Committee established its meeting calendar for January through June: January 25, February 22, March 22, April 26, May 24, June 28.

GROUP PURCHASE COMMITTEE-There was a great deal of discussion about this committee and its charge, particularly as the committee has evolved from being a group looking into purchases for core services into a group that could also look at group discounts on all manner of items, that would not necessarily become CLAN services. Laura Marlane and Joan Gillespie are going to work on writing a charge for the committee.

10. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Susan Aylward, Secretary