Minutes of the BELS Consortium Council Meeting

May 20, 2010

Presiding: Janice Cooper N.V. Old Tappan HS

Present: Deborah Clare West Ridge ES (Park Ridge)

Eileen Layman Wood-Ridge MS/HS

Linda Keesing New Milford HS

Andrea Romano Cliffside Park HS

Gloria Pennell Bergenfield HS

Sara Tomasheski Elmwood Park MS/HS

Katherine Panczyk Midland ES (Rochelle Park)

Joanne Griffo N.V. Demarest HS

Susan Noto Indian Hills HS

Amy Smith Ramapo HS

Katherine Maynes Dumont HS

Katie Nellen Park Ridge HS

Martin Skeele North Bergen HS

Victoria Gupta Leonia MS

Donna Mikulka Hasbrouck Heights HS

Ida Luteran Saddle Brook MS/HS

Geri Stack Teaneck HS

Michelle Palko Eastside HS (Paterson)

Karen Giblin JFK HS (Paterson)

Susan Grover Leonia HS

Mary Walsh Ridgefield HS

1.)  Minutes of Previous Meeting: MOTION: There being no additions or corrections to the minutes, they will stand as written.

(Motion Made- Janice Cooper, Seconded- Gloria Pennell, Carried)

2.)  Treasurer’s Report: Phillip Berg indicated that the BELS Consortium is now a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and has also obtained exemption from New Jersey sales tax. It was also reported that invoices were sent out on Monday, May 17, 2010. A delivery charge of $450 ($80 increase from last year) was charged on all appropriate invoices because it is unclear how much delivery will cost in 2010-11 at the present time. It is anticipated that it will not cost over $450.

3.)  President’s Report: Janice Cooper explained how it is important to amend the current BELS Bylaws so that it does not specify how often inter-library loan delivery pickup must occur because the state will most likely no longer be providing subsidies for this service. A motion was carried to begin voting on the amendment. Online voting will end on Thursday, May 27, 2010.

The worth of EBSCO and several other vendors’ products was discussed and it was concluded that until the State budget has been finalized, it is very difficult to know how to allocate funds for subscription databases. Every effort will be made over the summer to collectively bargain with other New Jersey library consortia to obtain the most beneficial deal possible.

(Motion Made- Linda Keesing, Seconded- Amy Smith, Carried)

4.)  Consortium Coordinator’s Report: Phillip Berg indicated that the BCCLS materials discharge feature is up and running on the BELS website. Nominations for the 2010-11 Executive Board are now accepted on the BELS listserv through at least September, 2010. An email detailing end of the year housekeeping will be sent during the week of May 24th. This email will include but not be limited to instructions about 2010-11 school calendar submissions, audiobook item type loan periods, 2010-11 incoming students spreadsheets, and dates for a Professional Development Open House in July.

5.)  Committee Reports:

  1. WEBSITE COMMITTEE: Joanne Griffo indicated that the committee recently met and is awaiting proofs back from the website designer.
  1. OPAC/CIRCULATION COMMITTEE: Linda Keesing spoke about several issues BELS members have been having with Workflows and the online catalog. These issues will be brought to the attention of BCCLS at the next scheduled meeting.

6.)  Old Business: None

7.)  New Business: Robert White delivered news about BCCLS’s intentions to negotiate with BELS and any other willing library consortium to drive down the price of EBSCO, ProQuest and Gale products in the wake of the expected state-wide cut of EBSCO services. H e also indicated that Velocity is the preferred vendor for inter-library loan delivery service since BELS and BCCLS libraries would not need to change delivery numbers or labels. It was also announced that Amy Smith of Ramapo High School will be retiring at the end of the year

8.)  Date of Next Meeting: Time and place to be determined.

9.)  Adjournment: 11:08am

Note: After adjournment, ProQuest representative Mike Chmelewski gave an hour-long presentation on their products.