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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012
Vol. CXXIII, No. 209
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE CITY OF TACOMA Devoted to the Courts, Real Estate, Finance, Industrial Activities, and Publication of Legal Notices
Published Since 1890
City Council to discuss third-quarter financials, public library budget
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Port of Tacoma officials welcome Korean minister
Posted online Thurs., Oct. 25 Photo Courtesy Port of Tacoma Gheewhan Kim (center), minister for economic affairs at the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C. was in Tacoma Wednesday to meet with Port of Tacoma CEO John Wolfe (right) and Port Commissioner Clare Petrich (left). Kim learned more about the Port's capabilities and relationship with Korea, and toured the Port industrial area. As minister, Kim promotes political, economic and trade relations between the United States and South Korea. He was previously director gen-
Tacoma City Council is scheduled to meet Tuesday at City Hall to receive an update on the city's third-quarter financial results and discuss the budgets for the finance department, public libraries, community and economic development department, and the planning and land services department as they relate to the proposed 2013-2014 biennial budget. The meeting is part of an ongoing schedule of budget workshops to finalize the city's biennial budget. Earlier this month, Tacoma City Manager T. C. Broadnax presented a budget proposal that calls for a variety of measures in order to close what is projected to be a $63 million general fund shortfall over the next two years. City Councilmembers will not take public comment during next week's meeting, which will be held on Tues., Oct. 30 at 12 p.m. in the Council Chambers on the first floor of the Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market St. The meeting will be broadcast live on TV Tacoma and online at tvtacoma.com. On-demand audio archives are available on the Web within 24 hours of the meeting online at tvtacoma. com. A tentative schedule of upcoming budget work-
shops (and topics), which will also be held in the Council Chambers on the first floor of the Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market St., includes: Weds., Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. — Police Department Tues., Nov. 6 at 12 p.m. — Fire Department Tues., Nov. 13 at 12 p.m. — Municipal Court; Information Technology Services; Public Assembly Facilities; Non-Departmental; Budget Wrap-up Tues., Nov. 20 at 12 p.m. — Council Budget Workshop Tues., Nov. 27 at 12 p.m. — Council Budget Workshop Tues., Dec. 4 at 12 p.m. — Council Budget Workshop Additionally, the city will host a series of com-
munity budget input meetings over the next two months: Mon., Oct. 29 between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Tacoma Main Library (Olympic Room), 1102 Tacoma Ave. Thurs., Nov. 1 between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Lincoln High School, 701 S. 37th St. Mon., Nov. 5 between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Center at Norpoint, 4818 Nassau Ave. NE City Hall is also collecting comments through its online community budget input box until Nov. 30. More information about the City of Tacoma's 2013-2014 proposed biennial budget is available online at cityoftacoma.org.
Posted online Thurs., Oct. 25 Unexpected and continuing problems with the transition to the Tacoma Public Library's new catalog and circulation system has delayed the reopening of Tacoma's Main Library, library officials announced Wednesday. "We have been caught by surprise by this latest development," said library director Susan Odencrantz. According to Odencrantz, all library records were successfully loaded into a testbed server in early September and used for training staff. The test transition was successful, however, "our vendor, Innovative Interfaces, has now twice tried to load the actual records into our primary servers during the final process and both times they were unsuccessful." Loading patron and catalog records into the server is a time-consuming process which takes several days and, until the process is completed,
the library does not have the ability to check out materials to its patrons, nor can patrons access the online library catalog. At this point, the main library will be closed until 2 p.m. on Mon., Oct. 29. Branch libraries will open as scheduled at noon on Tues., Oct. 30. "We are as frustrated as our patrons are with this delay," added Odencrantz. Library staff are working closely with software engineers at Innovative Interfaces, but as the library director explained, "it is really in their hands at this point. There is not much more we can do until they identify the problem and create a solution that allows them to successfully load our records." Library staff plan to work with the engineers at Innovative Interfaces throughout the rest of this week and the weekend to get the new system up and running. Innovative Interfaces, based in California, provides Integrated Library Systems to thou-
sands of libraries of all types in over 50 countries. Work on the migration to the new catalog and circulation system began last year at the Tacoma Public Library. According to library officials, the new system will allow visitors to find books, movies, articles and more with one search; easily access downloadable AudioBooks and eBooks; refine searches to find exactly what visitors want; search what is currently on the shelf; and place a hold on an item that is currently checked out or on order. It also allows parents to view reading levels for the books their kids read. The new system also allows online library users to find out when items are due back and renew on-line; save reading histories; create lists of titles for research or future reading or listening; sign up for SMS (text) alerts on mobile devices; and make a recommendation that the library purchase an item. Eventually, library patrons will be able to pay library fines online. More information is available online at tpl. lib.wa.us.
eral for multilateral trade in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. His past overseas posts include the Korean Embassy in Muscat, Oman, the United Kingdom and Russia.
Tech issues delay Tacoma Public Library reopening