Meeting Minutes for 05/21/2025

eResource Committee Meeting
05/21/2025

Co-chair Introduction

• Alison (Telluride) introduced herself.
• Alison has been working at the Telluride Public Library since 2011, first as a reference librarian and now in the technical services department. She is responsible for purchasing eBooks for the library.

Meeting Minutes

• The meeting minutes from 02/19/2025 were approved with no modifications
  • Katy (CMC) accepted the meeting minutes as written
  • Lisa (MCPLD) seconded the motion to approve the minutes

OverDrive Vision Statement Update

• OverDrive Vision Statement documentation
• An overview of the subcommittee process was shared by Jade (Pitkin) and Lisa (MCPLD)
• Automatic Weeding Plans
  • The automatic weeding plan can have a negative effect on patrons if it is not implemented correctly.
  • The statement recommends that everyone set up an automatic weeding plan, which includes instructions on how to do so.
  • If you have a title that you want to remove from your Overdrive collection, you would use the same criteria to remove it as you would a physical copy. The Overdrive title can be manually weeded. This process is separate from the automatic weeding plan, which simply removes expired licenses.
• Sharing Materials
  • To be a contributing member of the shared collection, everyone must share all materials.
  • The group agreed to share materials after a maximum of two weeks. However, anyone who wishes to share sooner is welcome to do so.

• Hold Threshold
  • To be a good steward when it comes to reducing the holds, a 7 to 1 hold ratio is suggested unless this is not within their library’s policy and budgetary constraints.
  • There are instructions on how to find your hold ratio on the OverDrive Vision Statement.
  • The members of academic libraries noted that fulfilling holds on fiction titles for their patrons is not part of their collection development policies.
  • All libraries should monitor their holds to understand how they utilize the consortium-wide collection and where they can contribute, as this aligns with the vision of the shared collection.
  • Some titles are expensive, and due to budgetary constraints, some libraries may be unable to purchase multiple copies to reduce holds. 
•  Old hold processes
  • This process, which was discussed a couple of meetings ago, was initially proposed with a six-month timeframe before removing a hold. The problem is that the one-to-seven ratio is a six-month hold time. 
  • We propose removing holds after one year on items that are not available for sale and for which no copies are available for use.
  • We want to give everyone a chance to review the information manually and contact their patrons.
  • You should check if a new version of that title is available for purchase and move the hold for your patron.
  • If copies have not moved in a year, we want to batch remove those because they are not going anywhere. It does not benefit the patrons, and it clogs everything up. One year would be sufficient time for everybody to review it. 
  • We want to remove holds without a suspended expiration date after one year has passed.  These are the ones that were suspended on Pika without an end date. 
  • If a hold is over two years old, has been published for at least two years, the consortium collection has had an active copy for at least two years, and the title remains available for sale, we want to remove the hold. We are being slightly more conservative to prevent accidental removal of holds that people still want.
  • All libraries should be aware that once we request Overdrive to remove these holds, they may receive calls from patrons who are accustomed to managing them, as their suspended holds will be canceled.
• Reports
  • We are suggesting consortium and advantage reports. Jade reviewed the different types of reports. 
  • It was suggested that everyone check their hold-to-item ratio,  holds on items no longer available for sale, and holds on items with no copies available but that are available for purchase, at least once a month.
  • Annual shared dollar amounts are usually only sent to the directors. The group has also requested that they be sent to the eResources group.
• Subcommitties
  • Jade listed the current subcommittees for the 3-year Overdrive vision, the annual review of always-available audio, and curated lists.
  • It was suggested that curated lists be reviewed quarterly.
  • Addy (Montrose) works on curating the adult lists. Tallie (Grand) offered to help Addy with the kids' lists.
  • The group agreed that updates from the curated lists group should be included in the quarterly meetings.
  • Comment Access
  • Everyone has access to comment on the OverDrive Vision Statement documentation
• Appreciation
  • Adam wanted everyone to know that his committee is doing fantastic work. He is thrilled to see everyone working together because that is what shared governance is about.
  • Shared governance is taking that responsibility and determining what works for individual libraries and what works for the consortium.
  • Adam will be sending out the packet of materials for the Council meeting next Thursday. He wondered if the group would be okay with him sharing some of the bullet points from the packet.
  • The group agreed that Adam can share the entire OverDrive Vision Statement documentation.
• Next Steps
  • The MLN1 libraries that have Overdrive would like to schedule a meeting to review the comments on the OverDrive Vision Statement and include OverDrive representatives to answer any questions.

Action Item: Tammy will send the quarterly Overdrive spending report to the library directors and the eResources Committee.

Action Item: Tammy will look into setting up a meeting for the MLN1 libraries that have Overdrive and include our Overdrive reps. 

Action Item: Nina (Bud Werner) offered to share her spreadsheet of purchased titles with someone who can review it. Tallie (Grand) offered to review it.

Other Business

• For Librarians: 
• Katina Magazine– Katina is a digital publication that addresses the value of librarians to society and elevates their role as trusted stewards of knowledge. Named after Katina Strauch, the visionary founder of the Charleston Conference, it is written by and for the international communities of librarians, vendors, and publishers. (from About page)
• This source can be used to look for future vendors.

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 20, at 10:00 a.m.