Keep on the MAP!

Message forwarded from Columbia's Black Student Union:

State Monetary Award Program (MAP) faces 50% "doomsday" budget cut - what will you do about it?

Let's Rally Together Friday, June 26

What: Join Columbia's Black Student Union, fellow Columbia students, and college students across the state and rally for student financial aid. The legislature and governor are about to implement a new state budget that will cut MAP grants by more than half. The result would mean smaller grants given to all students in the first semester, and all second semester grants would be wiped out completely. Together, we can challenge this decision!

Let's speak out, together - explain to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) and news media that cutting your MAP grant will impact your life.

Who: Students from Illinois independent colleges, public universities, and community colleges need your help.

When: Meet up time is Friday, June 26 at 11 a.m. The rally will take place at noon.

Where: Meet at The Court: 731 South Plymouth, Floor 1. We will take the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) blue line, together. Rally Site: UIC Student Services Building, 1200 West Harrison Street.

Immediately following the rally will be a commission meeting of the ISAC.

For more information contact rally organizer Paul Frank at 312.343.9840 or, email him at paul@federationedu.org.

Learn More About MAP

The Monetary Award Program or MAP is the state's largest need-based aid program. About half of recipients come from families with no resources to pay for college. Reducing these funds will force many students out of school and many others will be forced to scramble to obtain high cost private loans in this very difficult credit market. Each year, more than 150,000 Illinois students are able to attend private and public colleges and universities due to the state's provision of $380 million in MAP grants, and more than 60 percent of MAP recipients are continuing students. This budget would result in dramatic numbers of college dropouts due to financial inability to continue.

Something's changed...?

Something's changed at the Library. Several things in fact.

1. Research Refresh! There's a new look for the Research Guides





2. Two versions of the catalog!
Quick Search? Use the Basic Catalog.
In-Depth Research? Use the Advanced Catalog.



3. Logging in to request books is different!
In the Basic Catalog the login screen will look like this:


You can create a login and password of your choosing. You will only have to enter the 14-digit barcode (on the back of your Columbia ID Card) when you create your account.

Catalog Maintenance

The library catalog is currently undergoing an upgrade. Please bear with us as these changes are made. You may notice a new look to the interface. Please Ask A Librarian if you have any questions or experience any problems.

The Library: Representin' at Printer's Row Lit Fest. Word.

The Library will be represented at the Printer's Row Lit Fest on Saturday, June 6 and Sunday, June 7 in the Columbia College Chicago tent, located at the corner of Harrison and Dearborn.

At the Library table, you can find out more about the Friends of the Library, the Library in general and what we have to offer. The tent will also have the performance stage nearby, so come by and learn about the Library, listen to some great music and spoken word by Columbia students or just to say hello!

Be sure to pick up a free copy of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (while supplies last), courtesy of The Big Read and the Library.

Library Friends Make New City's 2009 Lit 50

Just in time for the Printer's Row Lit Fest, New City has published its annual Lit 50 list of Chicagoans making a difference in our town's literary scene. For 2009, the focus is on "behind-the-scenes literati", and features several important folks to the Columbia College Chicago Library:

#14. Randy Albers, Chair of the Fiction Writing Department
Randy is also a member of the Library's Friends Council.

#34. Suzy Takcs, Owner, The Book Cellar
Suzy is also a member of Library's Friends Council.

#46. Kristy Bowen, Poet
An accomplished poet and publisher (dancing girl press & studio) in her own right, Kristy is a Circulation Assistant in the Library.

Want to know the other 47? See Lit 50: Who really books in Chicago.