Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium s1

Document#14-02 LIBRARIES OF MIDDLESEX AUTOMATION CONSORTIUM EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING Matawan Aberdeen Public Library December 13, 2013 MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT: Joan Henry – Dunellen Chuck Dolan – MCC Allen McGinley – Piscataway Chris Carbone – South Brunswick

MEMBERS ABSENT: Bonnie Sterling – Milltown Cheryl McBride – North Brunswick Joe Da Rold – Plainfield Susan Kaplan – Sayreville

LMxAC STAFF PRESENT: Eileen M. Palmer

The meeting was called to order at 12:00 by Vice President Chris Carbone.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: (Document #13-66) There were no additional items to add to the agenda. Allen McGinley moved to approve the agenda of the December 13, 2013 Executive Board meeting. Chuck Dolan seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING: (Document #13-67) The Board briefly reviewed the minutes. Joan Henry moved to approve the minutes of the October 24, 2013 meeting. Allen McGinley seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried.

TREASURER’S REPORT: (Document #13-68) Eileen Palmer delivered the treasurer’s report in place of Cheryl McBride. Eileen said that there was nothing else to report beyond what was reported at the General Membership Meeting earlier. She noted that the aged receivables look very good. Several libraries have requested to be billed early. The Budget report was filed for audit.

BILL LIST: (Document #13-69) The November and December Bill Lists were presented. Eileen explained that the payment to Benefit Tax Link is for managing our insurance payment, the payment to LMxAC-LibraryNJ is for eLibraryNJ, and the $1,000 to the postmaster is to replenish the account that pays for mailers. Joan Henry moved to approve the November and December Bill Lists. Chuck Dolan seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The motion carried.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT: Eileen Palmer indicated that she had nothing new to add to the Director’s Report she delivered earlier at the General Membership meeting.

OLD BUSINESS:

a. New Members. Eileen and Christy met with Mary Faith Chmiel and Monica Eppinger of Elizabeth Public Library. They discussed the possibility of closer cooperation among LMxAC members and the Elizabeth Public Library – possibly also including membership in LMxAC.

b. Upgrade. Eileen said that she had nothing to add to the information about the upgrade presented earlier at the General Membership meeting.

NEW BUSINESS:

a. Zinio Review Process. Eileen said that the Zinio subscription is up in April and a decision will have to be made about whether to continue it and how to fund it. Eileen asked whether the decision should be made by the Executive Board or an ad hoc committee. She noted that the usage statistics are not as high as she would like, but she is inclined to continue it. The subscription includes access to the OneClickdigital platform, and several libraries have started purchasing content for that. Allen McGinley commented that BlueCloud will make Zinio a lot more attractive by integrating it more seamlessly with the catalog. Eileen noted that $40,000 was budgeted for Zinio this year, but only about $30,000 was spent. Funding for the next year would have to be divided among all LMxAC members; although it might technically be possible to have it set up for individual members to opt in or out, an all-or-nothing approach is much more practical and affordable. Discussion will have to include how to calculate Zinio charges for libraries; charges could be based on circulations, perhaps with an additional flat platform fee for each library. The current LMxAC charge for each circulation in Sirsi is $0.08, but the per-circulation charge in Zinio could be higher because the content is included. It was suggested that member fees could be incrementally stepped up in the first year so the full burden does not hit all at once. LMxAC might cover this from savings resulting from not having filled the new technology position yet. Other savings might come from cancelling some less popular Zinio subscriptions. Some libraries might also see savings by dropping some print subscriptions for Zinio titles, but other libraries will see an advantage in keeping both. Eileen suggested getting input from all member libraries through a SurveyMonkey. There was general consensus that the ultimate decision could be made by the Executive Board with input from this survey. The survey would also provide an opportunity to see how much members would be willing to pay. Eileen noted that while usage statistics might cause some directors to think that Zinio may not be worth the price, it could be viewed as a “loss leader” that allows libraries to demonstrate that they are staying ahead of the curve and offering innovative services, which ultimately brings in more patrons. It could also be a loss leader for LMxAC in attracting the attention of potential new members. Eileen said that she would have a draft of the survey and a quote from Recorded books for the January meeting. OTHER: Allen McGinley said that Eileen is working with Piscataway on a Facebook ad to promote Zinio. There will be data about Zinio traffic from the ad available by the February Board meeting. Eileen set up the ad using the LMxAC credit card and Piscataway will be billed. She said she learned from her experience with the Facebook ad that LMxAC placed last year to promote the mobile app. That ad did not work very well because it was targeted to too narrow a demographic, so few people saw it. The new ad targets all Piscataway residents. It is a $250 campaign, but the amount actually spent depends on the number of views and clicks. It launches on December 25 with the idea that people will be using new devices for Christmas. If it is successful it could be something the new part-time person can work on. Allen suggested building a small advertising budget into the Zinio funds. Eileen said that LMxAC needs to do more public relations, perhaps even contracting with a public relations person at a member library. All public relations efforts should be personalized to members rather than mentioning LMxAC, and should be considered outreach rather than advertising. She suggested that the cost of public relations could be built into the cost of every service LMxAC offers. There may be things we can do to get metadata from our websites to show up higher in search results, along the lines of what OCLC has done working with Google to increase the prominence of WorldCat.

COMMUNICATIONS: There were no Communication items.

ADJOURNMENT: Joan Henry moved to adjourn. Allen McGinley seconded the motion. All members were in favor. The meeting adjourned at 12:55 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Charles Dolan, Secretary