1.      CALL TO ORDER

This regularly scheduled meeting of the OSL Steering Committee was called to order by President Laura Marlane at 9:34 A.M. at the Ocean State Libraries Office.

Present were: Jon Anderson, Susan Aylward, Debbie Barchi, Howard Boksenbaum, Becky A. Boragine, Joan Gillespie, Shirley Long, Laura Marlane, Leslie Page, Doug Pearce, Regina Slezak, Eileen Socha, Ulla Virks.

Also present: Fran Farrell-Bergeron (WWA), John Carney (EPL), Joan Hackett (HAR) Leslie McDonough (SCI) Gayle Wolstenholme (GLO) Kristin Chin (FOS)  

2.      MINUTES OF THE january 24, 2008 MEETING

VOTED unanimously to accept the minutes of the January 24, 2008 meeting. (Slezak, Aylward).

3.      TREASURER’S REPORT (Shirley Long)

Shirley presented the Treasurer’s report.  $91,674 of the $100,000 budgeted for III maintenance has been spent.  Teleforms were not ordered last year (but will be with Champlin Foundations money this year) so there is a savings in this budget line.  Due to some monies on account with NELINET, only $55,000 of the $70,000 budgeted will be spent. The telephone account will be overspent due to staff consolidation and relocation. There will be money left over under Internet Services - $64,853 spent to date - because RiNET fees were reduced this year due to E-rate money.

4.      EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT—(Joan Gillespie)

Joan’s report addressed the following issues:

a)      A request was made that we keep second last patron borrower information on record.  This can’t be done with our system.

b)      Digital Backoffice has asked for RI authentication.

c)      OSL will remove the $6 maximum for overdue fines if your library chooses.

d)     As a member of the board of RINET, Joan met the auditor and would like to ask her for a quote for audit services for OSL.  She will ask for referrals from the members as well.

e)      Quick Books- OSL staff has trained on Quick Books with Newport staff and is going to work with staff from a Connecticut consortium.

f)       Several New Shoreham codes have been changed to non-holdable.

g)      Lisa has posted that she is willing to coordinate applying for an ALA grant for posters if anyone is interested.

5.      SYSTEM STAFF REPORTS

The Steering Committee did not have questions for Joan regarding the written reports from the OSL System staff that had been distributed prior to the meeting.

6.      COMMITTEE REPORTS (Reference)

Written report from the Reference Committee was distributed prior to the meeting.

7.      LIB FUTURES COMMITTEE REPORT (Eileen Socha)

Eileen reported that Howard has developed an outline for a report to the General Assembly on the Karla Harry Library Commission.  The report, to be completed by the end of April, will include legislative efforts and technological developments for Library services in Rhode Island.  The Commission has one more year left on their charge then they will apply for permanent status. The committee is also looking at May for the Legislative breakfast and is working on changing the language to Title 29.

8.      OLD BUSINESS

a.       PENALTIES FOR LATE PAYMENTS TO OSL—clarification of policy on how much to charge and when.

After discussion it was decided that an updated Member Agreement would be presented at the March meeting for a vote.

9.      NEW BUSINESS

a.       CHANGE THE DATE FOR THE NEXT STEERING

Date of the next steering meeting will be March 20, 2008.

b.      REQUEST THAT OSL BUY MORE PACKING MATERIAL

It was agreed upon that libraries need to take responsibility for materials needed to participate in statewide delivery.  It was also noted that libraries are getting their delivery issues resolved quickly, including requests for second pickups when drivers are unable to take everything.

c.       BY-LAWS AND FUNDING FORMULA REVIEW (Susan Aylward) —

We need to step back from the work being done to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard in the process, thus building a consensus for structural changes and fee changes. There was preliminary discussion about this being part of a long-range plan. The Steering Committee further discussed the possibility of establishing a planning committee, which could be made up of Steering Committee members, with Susan Aylward as chairperson. The Steering Committee felt we needed to outline the planning process in a more detailed way before moving forward. Susan Aylward will look at ways to move the process forward and will report back to the Steering Committee in March.

10.  OTHER

11.  ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 11:25AM.

Respectfully submitted,

Becky A. Boragine, Secretary

Next meeting: March 20, 2008 at 9:30am, at OSL Offices