Big Read Film Screenings

As part of The Big Read, Columbia College Chicago will be sponsoring several film screenings related to the In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.  In the Time of the Butterflies transports us to the Dominican Republic in the mid-twentieth century when the country struggled under the brutal dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. A work of historical fiction, the novel honors the lives of Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal, who became icons of freedom and women's rights when they were assassinated in the autumn of 1960 for their role in the underground movement against Trujillo's regime.

There will be several screenings of the "In the Time of the Butterflies," the feature motion picture, starring Salma Hayek, Lumi Cavazos, Marc Anthony and Edward James Olmos.

In the Time of the Butterflies
Screenings

Wednesday, April 3 from 2:00-3:30pm
North Riverside Public Library
2400 S. Des Plaines Ave,
North Riverside, IL

Thursday, April 18 from 12:00-2:00pm
Benedictine University Library
5700 College Rd.
Lisle, IL

Wednesday, April 24, from 6:30-8:30pm 
Columbia College Chicago Film Row Cinema
1104 S. Wabash Ave, 8th Floor
Chicago IL

Wednesday, May 1, from 3:00-4:30pm 
Harold Washington College Library
30 E. Lake St., Rm 102
Chicago IL

Wednesday, May 8 from 7:00-8:30pm 
Cicero Public Library
5225 W. Cermak Rd.
Cicero IL

Code Name: Butterflies - Nombre secreto: Mariposas
The first documentary to tell the powerful story of the Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic.  Directed by Cecilia Domeyko.

Code Name: Butterflies 
Wednesday, May 1 from 6:00-8:00pm 
Columbia College Chicago Film Row Cinema
1104 S. Wabash Ave, 8th Floor
Chicago IL

Trópico de sangre
In 1960, The Dominican Republic's historic heroine, Minerva Mirabal and her sisters were assassinated by dictator Rafael L. Trujillo for daring to oppose the dictatorship.  Their death gave life to revolution.  The film focuses on Minerva Mirabal and tells the true story of how she and her sisters came to represent the greatest threat to dictator Rafael Trujillo and his regime. The Mirabal sisters were involved in an underground movement against the government, and were assassinated in 1960 by men under the instruction of the Trujillo regime.  Starring Michelle Rodriguez.

Trópico de sangre
Wednesday, May 8 from 6:30-8:30pm 
Columbia College Chicag Film Row Cinema
1104 S. Wabash, 8th Floor
Chicago IL

For more information about The Big Read, please visit the Columbia College Chicago Library Big Read website.

The Big Read Kickoff Event, Wed, 4/3 @7pm

The Big Read Kickoff - Columbia College Chicago Library
Wed, April 3, 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Film Row Cinema, 1104 S. Wabash Ave, 8th floor

Dr. Carmelo Esterrich

Join us as we kickoff The Big Read programming for 2013!  Dr. Carmelo Esterrich, Associate Professor of Spanish, Humanities and Cultural Studies will discuss the  importance of Julia Alvarez' novel  In the Time of the Butterflies and how it brought the lives of Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa Mirabal to light.  He will  provide a historical background of the Dominican Republic, and the Mirabal sisters' importance within the political context of the mid-twentieth century when the country was under the brutal dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo.


The presentation will be followed by a brief reading from playwright Caridad Svich's play adaptation of In the Time of the Butterflies, by Teatro Luna (Chicago's All Latina Theater Company) and a dance performance by members of the Latino Alliance student dance group, Adrenaline.

Refreshments will be served after the program.  This program is free and open to the public.

Copies of the book will be available as supplies last.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.  This program is also made in part by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Illinois General Assembly.

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 11/25

Each year, November 25th marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.  Adopted as Resolution 54/134 by the United Nations in 1999, the date is used to highlight international commitments towards the prevention of and end to gender-based violence. For 2012, United Nations Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet calls on all heads of state and government to make new commitments and take strong national action to protect women and girls. To watch her statement, it can be found here.

The date honors the memory of three sisters, Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa Mirabal from the Dominican Republic, who were killed on November 25th, 1960 for their political activism against the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. These young women, known as "Las Mariposas" (The Butterflies) sacrificed their lives for freedom and democracy and became a symbol of the crisis of violence against women in Latin America. A fourth sister, Dede Mirabal who remains in the Dominican Republic, works to keep the memory of her sisters alive at the Museo Hermanas Mirabal near the city of Salcedo.

Visit the Library to find more information regarding the Mirabal sisters. One suggested resource is Code Name: Butterflies,  a 2008 documentary about the lives of  Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa and Dede Mirabal now available in the library audiovisual collection.  Shot in the Dominican Republic, the film features interviews by family, friends and fellow activists who worked with them during the Trujillo era. See the trailer below:

The Mirabal sisters are also the subjects of In the Time of the Butterflies, a fictionalized account of their lives written by noted author, Julia Alvarez.  In the Time of the Butterflies is the featured book for the The Big Read at Columbia College Chicago in spring 2013.  More information will be available in early February 2013.

Library Awarded Big Read Grant

Columbia College Chicago Library has been awarded $16,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts through The Big Read. The Big Read is an NEA supported reading inititiave which provides funding for community partnerships across the country to highlight one book through book discussions and programming to encourage reading among all ages. The Library has chosen In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez as its Big Read reading selection for Spring 2013.

This is the fourth Big Read in which the Library has participated. The first was Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club in 2007 (in partnership with the Center for Asian Arts and Media) followed by Farhrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury in 2009, and The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien in 2011.

The Library is one of 78 communities throughout the United States to receive this award, and the only one representing the Chicago area. Other Illinois libraries include Quincy, DeKalb and Galesburg public libraries.  For more information about the 2012-2013 grant awards, the official press release from The Big Read is available here.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. More about The Big Read is available at http://www.neabigread.org.

Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012

Ray Bradbury, science fiction author of classic books such as Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, has died at 91.  In 2009 Columbia College Chicago awarded Ray Bradbury with an honorary degree.
Columbia College faculty member and Bradbury biographer, Sam Weller spoke at the commencement ceremony and introduced a video from Ray Bradbury.

Mr. Bradbury's remarks begin at 7:42.
  

Ray Bradbury will be deeply missed. 

VIDEO: The Language of War Panel

What language do we use to talk about war? How does this language affect our understanding of war and impact those who fight? On April 13 the Library hosted “The Language of War”, a panel discussion that included combat veterans and anti-war activists exploring these questions as part of The Big Read, featuring Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam War classic The Things They Carried.

The panelists were Pat Hunt, from the Chicago chapter of CodePink, Vietnam War combat veteran Barry Romo, Iraq War combat veteran Anthony Wagner, and Louis Silverstein, Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Columbia College Chicago as moderator and panelist. Some highlights:

Anthony Wagner

Barry Romo

John Fischetti Exhibition - Library 1st Floor

View the display of works from Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist John Fischetti.

Located on the first floor of the Library, the exhibit showcases Fischetti’s political cartoons and sketches capturing his take on the Vietnam War. Held in conjunction with the Library’s Big Read programming for the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien and the College’s annual John Fischetti Editorial Cartoon Competition, the exhibit focuses on the US involvement in Vietnam from 1960 to 1975 and the various reactions to it in American culture.

Curated by Dominican University Library Science student, Jerica Copeny, and College Archives & Digital Collections staff member, Kris Lipkowski, the exhibit runs from March 30 through May 16, 2011.

Haiku Contest Submissions 2009

Eyes fixed on the screen, / the forgotten page now blank; / the written word dies -Vanessa Pegramabout

Essence of a voice / It speaks in rhymes / Born between each breath - Joy Young

Call me Anarchist / Cuz I'd rather be burning / Starbucks and not books - Justin Dickman

Bradbury's intent / Fire no longer exists / Ink extinguishes - Brittain Williams

Burnt embers of books / Only give heat for so long. / But their words don't cool.- Vanessa Pegram

Calling of the crows / As the snow buries them deep / Leaving them frozen - Joy Young

Who is Guy Montag / What is he really burning / With his so-called life - Justin Dickman

Bruised fingers typing / Dissatisfied with T.V. / Bradbury's Future. - Brittain Williams

What would you accept / as true without resources? / Could you find the truth? - Kate Donalek

See the pile of books? / Why are you holding a match? / Educational. - Sarah Nichols

One triangle here. / More and more come from another. / Everlasting fractal. - Joyce Ogban

An honest day's work / Is not worth more in the bush / Until you've done none. - Mark Perkins

Knowledge is obtained / Through books, poems, and films, / Pictures. See. Illustrated man. Brandon Marshall

I found a new word / Guess it escaped from the flames / Imagination - Charlsey Miller

time, redirected / freeze your slang - your expressions / burnished beings be - Jaclyn Capozzoli

Words, unlike the flame / Will ignite your soul's knowledge, and can not burn out. - Vanessa Pegram

The black horned Beauty / With its poisonous embrace / Wings filled with soft bliss - Joy Young

Sirens pierced our ears / War is on the radio / Follow the river - Justin Dickman

Reasons to write / Four hundred and fifty one / ink and paper live - Brittain Williams

Could you think if you / hadn't been taught, hadn't learned? / What would you believe? - Kate Donalek

I eat my burger/ I like tomato on it/ Many Mayonnaise - Harlan Vaughn

words being essence / of thoughts blossoming between / our self and others - Kate Donalek

Ray Bradbury's Characters Brought to Life - Manifest Spectacle Fortuna 2009

Spectacle Fortuna Parade of Creativity

Join Library staff and friends as we participate in this year’s Spectacle Fortuna. The Library Book Carts will be out in full force (transformed into fire engines) while characters from Ray Bradbury’s books and stories will be brought to life.

Kick-off at Harrison Avenue and Wabash Avenue, 6:45 - 7:45 p.m.
Spectacle Fortuna is Columbia’s parade of creativity, wishing good fortune upon seniors and graduate students, and celebrating the college’s spirit and creative community. This free, public event includes: hundreds of giant puppets; spectacle items created by students, faculty, and staff; and the punk marching band Mucca Pazza.

Sneak Preview of Spectacle:

Spectacle Credits: Artistic Director, Jennifer Friedrich, lead Costume Designer Elsa Hiltner, lead Builder Joy Dennis Photo Credits: Alexis Ellers

More information on Manifest and Spectacle Fortuna


About The Big Read
The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment
for the Arts, designed to restore reading to the center
of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in
partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library
Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big
Read brings together partners across the country to
encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

This program is partially supported by a grant from the
Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Intellectual Freedom in the Context of Fahrenheit 451

Intellectual Freedom in the Context of Fahrenheit 451
Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Deputy Director,
American Library Association
Office of Intellectual Freedom

Thursday, May 7, 2009, 6-8pm
(rescheduled from April 16)
Columbia College Chicago Library
624 S. Michigan Ave., 3rd Floor

Faculty are encouraged and welcome to bring classes to this program.

Deborah Caldwell Stone is Deputy Director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, where she works on projects dealing with censorship and privacy in libraries. An attorney by training, she practiced appellate law before the state and federal courts in Chicago before joining ALA in 2000. She now works closely with librarians to address various intellectual freedom issues affecting libraries, including the removal of books and materials from library shelves, the use of Internet filtering, and the impact of new technologies and the USA PATRIOT Act on user privacy. She is an honors graduate of the Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology.

Big Read-A-Thon Tomorrow 4/28 Library 3rd Floor 9am-5pm

Burned any good books lately?

Join us for the Big Read Read-A-Thon Tomorrow - Tuesday, April 28 from 9am - 5pm as we read Fahrenheit 451 from start to finish!

Not familiar with the classic story of censorship, book burning, and the continued need for intellectual freedom and critical thought?

Come listen to readers from all over the college and the community read aloud from Ray Bradbury's 1953 classic.







Tuesday, April 28th
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Library 3rd Floor
624 S. Michigan Ave.

Burned any good books lately?

Call for Writers! Typewriter Olympics

Students! Take up the challenge and create your Fahrenheit 451-themed short story on one of these mechanical relics. You too can write like Ray!

"I Wanna Write Like Ray!"
Friday, May 1st, 2009
623 S. Wabash
1st floor
12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

To sign-up to type your story contact Cole Robertson at 312-369-7427 or crobertson@colum.edu or fill out the online form before Friday, April 24th.

Please see the Big Read Website for more information about additional events at Columbia College Chicago Library.

Sam Weller on Ray Bradbury : The Bradbury Chronicles - Big Read

Sam Weller, Ray Bradbury's biographer and faculty at Columbia College Chicago, will provide insight into the author through the lens of their unique relationship.

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
7:00-9:00 p.m.
1104 S. Wabash Ave.,
Columbia College Chicago
Film Row Center, 8th Floor
FREE!

One of the many events in celebration of the Big Read at Columbia College Chicago.

POSTPONED - Intellectual Freedom in the context of Fahrenheit 451

Intellectual Freedom in the Context of Fahrenheit 451 (originally scheduled for this Thursday April 16^th from 3-5pm in the Library), has been postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. We are working with our speaker Deborah Caldwell-Stone to reschedule this program for early May. An announcement will be made when a new date and time has been selected.

Please check The Big Read website at http://www.colum.edu/bigread for the latest information regarding this and other Big Read programs. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Panel on Censorship: "Burning Bright: a dialogue on creative freedom in the age of new media"

Panel Discussion on Censorship - part of the month-long celebration of the Big Read

Monday, April 13th, 2009
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Library - 3rd Floor
Columbia College Chicago
FREE!

Local and national artists and theorists from across a range of creative disciplines discuss how governmental, corporate and self-censorship impact creative expression.

Panelists include:

• Steve Edwards, former host of WBEZ's 84.8 and current acting program director;
• Stacia Yeapanis, new media artist;
• Dr. Al Gini, professor of Business Ethics at Loyola University;
• Jason Salavon, media artist;
  
• Karen Fiorito, Los Angeles political artist (via conference call); and
  
• Dawn Larsen, Intellectual Property attorney and faculty member of Columbia College Chicago.
  

Big Read-A-Thon - Readers Needed!

Let your voice fuel the flames
at the
BIG READ-A-THON
for Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

Tuesday, April 28
9am-5pm
3rd Floor of the Library
624 S. Michigan Ave.

To sign up:
CONTACT
Molly Beestrum
312-369-7966
mbeestrum@colum.edu
or
Shirley Bennett
312-369-7966
sbennett@colum.edu

Part of the Big Read program of events.

The Big Read & Fahreheit 451

Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" is a selection of The Big Read. A program of the National Endowment for the Arts, The Big Read provides the opportunity for communities across the nation to join together in reading a single book.

The Columbia College Chicago Library Presents
A month-long series of events, on and off campus, inspired by this year's Big Read Book:
Fahreheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

See the Big Read website for more information.

Manual Typewriters Needed!

The Library needs both working and non-working MANUAL (non-electric) typewriters for an interactive performance in conjunction the Big Read.

The Typewriter event will take place in the 623 S. Wabash building event on May 1.

Typewriter loans and donations are welcome.

The Library can pick up and return if needed. Please respond ASAP if interested.

Thanks for keeping the arts alive in Chicago!

Contact Cole Robertson @ 312-369-7427 or crobertson@colum.edu

Edible Books & The Big Read - April 1st

It can look like a book, it can act like a book, it can be a pun on a book...
The only rule: it must be edible!

Artists with a culinary streak, chefs with artistic flair, and book lovers are invited to participate by whipping up an edible book for this event which takes place on Wednesday, April 1st at venues around the world. Prize categories: Most Likely To Be Burned, Most Likely To Be Devoured, Most Out Of This World, Most Likely To Be Made Into a Truffaut Film, Most Magical.




Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury’s classic parable of literature under threat of destruction. Bradbury will be honored at this year’s Manifest celebration at Columbia College Chicago following the Library’s Big Read month-long programming in April and May focusing on Fahrenheit 451.

The Big Read at Columbia College Chicago features readings, panel discussions, book discussion group
gatherings, lectures by national authors, film screenings, demonstrations, and a number of other exciting and creative events held here at Columbia College Chicago, as well as throughout the Chicagoland area. Free copies of Fahrenheit 451 and supplementary materials such as Reader’s and Teachers Guides will be available at all Big Read events.

For more information, visit the library’s website. http://www.colum.edu/bigread

RSVP for Bookmakers--Deadline: Friday, March 27th 2009 at 5 pm
book&paper@colum.edu or 312-369-6630

Registration form can be found at: http://www.bookandpaper.org
Information for bookmakers: Gina Ordaz 312-369-6630
Information for event: Opal Anderson 312-369-7027

Entries must be dropped off and set up on April 1st between 5:30-6 pm at the Columbia Library.

Admission $10 per person (free for bookmakers), $5 Friends of the Library. Tickets at the door, cash & check only. Proceeds benefit the Center for Book & Paper Arts’ Equipment Fund.