Celebrate Banned Books week!

Banned Books Week starts tomorrow (Sept. 29) and runs through Oct. 6. To celebrate, the Library has a new display in the library entrance and several posters around the stacks. Come and take a look--you may be surprised by some of the titles that are consistently objected to year after year.

If you’d like to celebrate Banned Books Week more actively, the ALA is hosting a read-out tomorrow afternoon on Michigan Avenue. Here are the details:

You are invited to come and celebrate your freedom to read during the 26th annual celebration of Banned Books Week. Join the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, and the Newberry Library in Chicago, IL at the Pioneer Plaza (on Michigan Ave between the Tribune Tower and the Chicago River) on Saturday, September 29, 2007, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., for the Banned Books Week Read-Out! Local Chicago Celebrities join several acclaimed authors to read passages from their favorite banned and challenged books. Admission is FREE.

Library staff member receives All-Staff Arts & Media Award!

The Library is pleased to announce that John Moss, our AV Assistant, has been named one of 10 recipients of this year's All-Staff Arts & Media Award.

The award recognizes the artistic achievements of Columbia College Chicago staff and is funded through Columbia College Chicago's Office of Human Resources.

Congratulations to all of the recipients. Way to go, John!

New: Black Metropolis Research Consortium

Columbia College Chicago is proud to be a part of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium. The BMRC is an unincorporated Chicago-based association of libraries, universities, and other archival institutions with major holdings of materials that document African American and African diasporic culture, history, and politics, with a specific focus on materials relating to Chicago. The University of Chicago serves as Host Institution of the BMRC.

The BMRC is dedicated to making broadly accessible its members' holdings of materials that document African American and African diasporic culture, history, and politics, with a specific focus on materials relating to Chicago.

Check out the new BMRC web site HERE

Can *you* identify the photos?

Amongst the many archival materials held in the Columbia College Archives, there is no shortage of old photos. Many of these photos have no identification. Maybe you or someone you know can help out? Take a look at the current "line up" on the Archives page HERE and try your luck! You'll be helping to preserve the history of Columbia College Chicago.

The Library welcomes a new Director!

Please join the Library in welcoming our new Director, Jan Chindlund!

A welcome message from Jo Cates, Associate Vice President for Academic Research & Dean of the Library:

I am so pleased to announce that after a two-year search, we have a Library Director. Jan Chindlund will join our staff on Monday, September 24.

Before coming to Columbia, Jan was Group Project Manager/Head Librarian of the Global Business Research Information Center at McDonald’s Corporation, where she was promoted to increasingly responsible leadership positions since her arrival in 1995 as Head Librarian of the Marketing Services McLibrary. Prior to her work at McDonald’s, Jan was Assistant Vice President and Head Librarian at Duff & Phelps, an investment advisory firm. She received her MBA (Concentration in Innovation and Technology) from Benedictine University and MLS from Dominican University.

In addition to her skills as a manager and information specialist, Jan also brings space planning experience, facilitating three moves for the Information Center. We expect this experience will serve us well as the Library expands over the next few years.

Please take a moment and welcome Jan to the Columbia College Chicago community. I think you’ll appreciate her sense of humor and open and friendly demeanor.

New Library resource

Come and take a look at one of our newest reference titles, Short Stories for Students. You'll find numerous short stories covered with concise synopses of the story's plot, characters and themes, a brief author biography, a discussion of the story's cultural and historical significance and excerpted criticism. You'll also be pointed to media adaptations of the story, discussion questions and suggestions on what to read next. You can search Short Stories for Students by author, title, nationality and theme.

Want help with Short Stories for Students or more information on literature or authors? Just click here or on any of the Library's web pages.

Art of the Library

Please join the Library as we host an opening reception for our Fall Art of the Library exhibit.

The reception will be held tomorrow, Thursday September 13th, from 5:00 - 7:00pm on the 3rd floor of the Library. Refreshments will be served.

The exhibit will run from September 13th through November 2nd, 2007 and will showcase the work of students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

The Art of the Library program exhibits works in all forms of visual arts, including sculpture, painting, drawings, and paper and book arts. Exhibitions by different artists are shown quarterly on a rotating basis.

It's 10:00am. Do you know where your Facebook profile is?

Click the image above to join the Columbia College Chicago Library Facebook group!

Facebook announced yesterday that it will be making the names and profiles of its members available to nonmembers and eventually accessible through search-engine listings. That means in the near future, *anyone* (potential employers, strangers, parents, professors, etc.) can Google you and see your Facebook profile (or at least parts of it). Think about how you present yourself online and consider changing your Search Privacy settings in Facebook if this concerns you. Be aware that the information you make available about yourself through online social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace is not always as hidden or private as you might think it is.

Read more about this from PC World HERE

Read the Facebook announcement (and see an example of how a public search listing will appear) HERE.

Looking for books or articles on online privacy, social networking or other information? Just click here or on any of the Library's web pages.

Happy first day of Fall 2007!

Happy first day of school, everyone! A big welcome to all incoming first year and transfer students as well as to new staff and faculty. And welcome back to everyone else!

We hope you enjoyed your summer and are ready for Fall 2007. Remember that the Columbia College Chicago Library is here to help! Whether you're doing research for an assignment, looking for a comfy place to study, trying to find coffee before class, or looking for books, videos, music, newspapers or magazines, the Library has it all and then some!

Questions? Comments? Use our service anytime!