Film Screening - Oct 7

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2009, 6-9:30 PM, 623 S. Wabash, 1st Floor, HOKIN Lecture Hall/Auditorium Room 109.

The library will be screening selections of works from nearly 1,000 16mm films and DVDs dontated to the collection from the Consulate General of The People's Republic of China in Chicago.


Wo men liang (You and Me), 2005, 85 min., Chinese with English subtitles.
A young woman rents a room from an elderly woman who is mean to her. She decides to say in the room after deciding the elderly woman needs her.


Shi Jie (The World), 2004, 96 min., Chinese with English subtitles.
On the outskirts of Beijing lies an amusement park featuring scaled-down models of world famous landmarks. Shi Jie follows the daily lives of staff members Taxo and Taisheng as they navigate their romance through The World.

Hugo Tillman: Film Stills of the Mind - Reception and Artist Lectures

As a part of the Focus: China gallery walk, a reception for photographer Hugo Tillman will be held on the 3rd floor of the library on Thursday, October 1, 2009 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. This reception is open to the public.
The exhibition, Hugo Tillman: Film Stills of the Mind, runs through October 30th, and is featured on the first three floors of the library. Additional Information about this exhibit can be found in earlier posts.

In addition to the reception, Hugo Tillman will be holding two lectures on Friday, October 2nd, 2009 - at 10:30 a.m. and at 1:00 p.m. on the 3rd floor of the library. These lectures are open to the public as well.

More information about the Focus: China events can be found on the Columbia College Website.

Cultural Studies Colloquium Series

2009-2010 Series:
Thursday, October 1, 2009
4:00 pm
3rd Floor of the Library
624 S. Michigan Ave.

Dr. Paul Booth
Assistant Professor of New Media and Technology, College of Communication, DePaul University

"Participatory Culture: Beyond the Economic Binary"

Paul Booth is an Assistant Professor of New Media and Technology at DePaul University in Chicago. He writes about the implications of the intersection of traditional and interactive media. His research interests also include participatory audiences, fans, popular culture, science fiction, television, narrative, games, technology, and meditation. He can be reached.

Pre-Reading Article
Booth, Paul, "Rereading Fandom: MySpace Character Personas and Narrative Identification." Critical Studies in Media Communication, Dec 2008, Vol 25 Issue 5, p514-536

See the WEBSITE for more information on this series.

ALA Banned Books Read-Out on Saturday, 9/26 noon-3pm

The Office for Intellectual Freedom would like to cordially invite you and your families to attend the annual Banned Books Read-Out! this Saturday afternoon, September 26th, 2009. The event will be held at Bughouse Square, just up the street from ALA headquarters at the corner of Walton Street and Dearborn Street in Chicago. It begins at noon, and is scheduled to be over by 3PM.



We have a great group of authors scheduled to speak and read; best of all, they will have (limited) copies of their books to give away and sign.

The line-up is:

• Chris Crutcher, author of Athletic Shorts, Whale Talk, Chinese Handcuffs and many more. Chris will be our MC.
• Sarah S. Brannen, author of Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, number eight of the Top Ten Challenged Books of 2008.
• Cecily von Ziegesar, author of the Gossip Girl series and Jen’s personal hero, number seven on the Top Ten list.
• Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, number six on the Top Ten list.
• Lauren Myracle, author of TTYL, TTFN, and L8R G8R, number three on the Top Ten list.
• Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, authors of And Tango Makes Three, number one on the Top Ten list for three years.

After these authors read, we’ll be holding an open mic for any audience member to read from their favorite challenged book.

Additional goody from ALA
To kick off Banned Books Week 2009, ALA published a new Banned Books Week PSA featuring the puppets from “Crash Pad.”

Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than a thousand books have been challenged since 1982. The challenges have occurred in every state and in hundreds of communities. Click here to see a map of book bans and challenges in the US from 2007 to 2009. People challenge books that they say are too sexual or too violent. They object to profanity and slang, and protest against offensive portrayals of racial or religious groups--or positive portrayals of homosexuals. Their targets range from books that explore the latest problems to classic and beloved works of American literature.

During the last week of September every year, hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. The 2009 celebration of Banned Books Week will be held from September 26 through October 3.



The 10 most challenged titles in 2008 were:

And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Reasons: anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint,
and unsuited to age group



His Dark Materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman
Reasons: political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, and violence




TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age
group



Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
Reasons: occult/satanism, religious viewpoint, and violence




Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
Reasons: occult/satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint,
sexually explicit, and violence



The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually
explicit, suicide, and unsuited to age group



Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age
group



Uncle Bobby's Wedding, by Sarah S. Brannen
Reasons: homosexuality and unsuited to age group



The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group




Flashcards of My Life, by Charise Mericle Harper
Reasons: sexually explicit and unsuited to age group




Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National Association of College Stores. Banned Books Week is also endorsed by the Center for the Book of the Library of Congress.

Art in the Library Opening & Reception

Join us - Thursday, September 24th, 2009 from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. - for the Art in the Library Opening and Reception for the Fall 2009 Exhibition in our new 3rd floor space.

Columbia College Chicago Library, Third Floor (in the new Library wing)
624 S. Michigan Avenue. Light refreshments will be served.

Vision. Sound. Movement.

The Art in the Library program at Columbia College Chicago provides an open, supportive and inviting setting to showcase the talent and creativity of our own community of artists. Since its inception in 2002, Art in the Library has offered library visitors the opportunity to experience the rich cultural diversity and progressive attitudes which thrive in the Columbia environment.

Presenting the work of Columbia College Chicago students, faculty, staff and alumni, the Art in 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.

The Art in the Library Committee welcomes all Columbia College Chicago artists to submit work for consideration.

Please visit the Art in the Library website for more information including submission guidelines, artwork forms, and examples of current and former exhibits.

Music Online - Listening & Reference Database

The library added a great new music database this year.

Promoted as "the most comprehensive database in streaming audio, video, reference, and scores on the web," Music Online Database is the best resource for students interested in researching or listening to music.

Included in Music Online are the following resources - all searchable individually or as one (BIG) database.

Music Online Listening

• American Song
• Classical Music Library
• Contemporary World Music
• Jazz Music Library
• Smithsonan Global Sound

Music Online Reference

• African American Music Reference
• Classical Music Reference Library
• Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online
• Classical Scores Library

Some additional features worth noting...

• Browse - so many ways to browse either the listening or reference collection. Just to name a few: Albums, Composers, Cultural Groups, Genres, Instruments, Scores, Song Titles, etc...
• Playlists -create your own playlist of music by simply creating an account in Music Online. You can create playlists containing whole works, segments, and/or other items such as links to any URL. Playlists can be annotated, edited, copied, shared, and all playlists contain their own unique static URL. Playlists can be used as lists of personal favorites, class viewing/listening assignments, or as a teaching resource for in-class use.
• Discography - for those artists you can't get enough of;
  
• Chronology - timeline of music from 1900 to present;
  
• Biography - for the life's story of your favorite musicians and performers;
  
• Images/Cover Art - to see the variations for different pressings of the same album;
  
• Liner Notes - for reading all of the fascinating details about your favorite recording...
  
• and so much more!
  

Cultural Studies Colloquium Series

2009-2010 Series - First Event

Thursday September 17th, 2009
4:00 pm
3rd Floor of the Library
624 S. Michigan Ave.

Dr. Abdelkder Sabil
Professor of English & Cultural Studies, Department of English, Faculty of Letters, Chouaib Doukkali, Eljadida, Morocco

"Cross-Cultural Discourse or the Discourse of Otherness in the Writings of Clifford Geertz, Paul Rabinow and Paul Bowles"

Abdelkader Sabil is Professeur de l'enseignement supérieur in the department of English, Faculty of Letters, University Chouaib Doukkali, Elijadida, Morocco. He completed a PhD in Cultural Studies at the University Chouaib Doukkali, as well as degrees from the Universities of Essex (UK) and Casablanca. He participates in Cultural Studies programs in the Universities of BenMsik, Casablanca and Elijadida. He is a member of the African Studies Network, Ferguson Centre of African and Asian Studies, Open University, UK. and a member of Globalization, Identity Politics and Social Conflicts Research Group, UK. His main research interests are social movements, North African and Middle Eastern Studies.

Pre-Reading Articles
James Clifford, "The Translation of Cultures" in Contemporary Literary Criticism: Literary and Cultural Studies. Eds. Robert Con Davis & Ronald Schleifer. New York: Longman, 1986.

Edward Said, "Representing the Colonized: Anthropology's Interlocutors" in Critical Inquiry. 15 (Winter 1989); 213-214. (excerpt)

See the WEBSITE for more information on this series.

World Music Festival Chicago 2009

Chicago showcases the best of international music at the 11th Annual World Music Festival: Chicago 2009, Friday, September 18 through Thursday, September 24, 2009. The multi-venue, one-week festival, which attracts an average of 45,000 visitors each year, showcases both traditional and contemporary music from diverse cultures across the world. The 2009 festival line-up will feature 55 events at 21 venues. Many events are family friendly. Events include live radio broadcasts and a mix of free and ticketed concerts presented in museums, parks, cultural centers, plazas, theaters, music stores, clubs and other venues throughout Chicago.

For a complete schedule of events visit the World Music Festival Website.

Columbia College Chicago will be hosting one of the events:

Marta Gomez Quartet
Tuesday, September 22 - 7pm
FREE
Columbia College Conaway Center
1104 S. Wabash Ave.
Chicago, IL 60602

Marta Gomez The 11th annual World Music Festival: Chicago 2009 presents Marta Gómez Quartet (Colombia/NYC/Boston) performing original compositions based on a vast amount of rhythms from Latin America at Columbia College Conaway Center.

Marta Gómez and her group perform a repertoire of original compositions based on a vast amount of rhythms from Latin America. Marta mixes the joy of the Caribbean with the nostalgia of the Andes adding jazz and pop elements, taking the authenticity of South American indigenous folk music into a hip new realm.

LIBRARY OPEN HOUSE

Wednesday, September 2 - 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
The library is your gateway to a universe of information!


From books and videos to electronic books, journals, databases, and more, we have what you need to help you succeed in all your work. If you already have your Campus Card, you can check out books right away. Come visit the library and discover our remarkable resources, learn about the services available to you, and meet our helpful staff whom are available to answer any of your questions.
(624 South Michigan Avenue, Floor 1)

We will have four tours throughout the day at 10am, NOON, 2pm and 4pm.

There will also be two information sessions in the 2nd floor Library Instruction Room at 11am and 1:00pm.

Free balloons and water bottles will be available on the first floor and at the reference desk for visitors to take with them.

New Library Home Page!

Monday morning, August 24th, the Library home page will be sporting a new look. Here's a sneak peak...


I know, pretty.

You may be asking yourself,"What's changed?" We think there are some great improvements, including:

• Search boxes for quick access to the online catalog and selected library databases,
• The Ask-A-Librarian chat widget featured more prominently,
  
• Quick access to the most commonly used pages,
  
• Feeds from the Library News Blog and Twitter account,
• Access to the Library Facebook page

We hope you are as happy with the new changes as we are. Comments and suggestions are welcome - please contact the Webmaster.

Hugo Tillman Photography Exhibition in the Library

The Library hosts an exhibition of photographs by Hugo Tillman as a part of the FOCUS: CHINA, a campus wide programming initiative, with China and Chinese culture as its central theme.

The exhibition, Hugo Tillman: Film Stills of the Mind, will run September 1 through October 30 at the Library - floors 1, 2 and 3 - with a reception on Thursday, October 1 and an artist talk/lecture on Friday, October 2.

As described on the FOCUS: CHINA events site, "in this revealing series of color photographs, British artist Hugo Tillman turns his lens towards China, the fastest growing force in art and economics, and examines in the most intimate of portrayals, approximately eighty of the leading Chinese artists of today. This solo exhibition will present selected film stills of this powerful investigation."


"For this project, Tillman spent two years in China interviewing his subjects and immersing himself in the culture and art scene. He explains: “I interviewed each artist for a few hours, asking them about their past, their memories, their dreams and their fears. Then I photographed each artist in sets that recreate their memories and dreams.” The result is a mesmerizing look at the unique psychological landscape of the present-day Chinese art world, seen from Tillman’s Western point-of-view. The dream-like quality of the settings that Tillman creates and the vibrant hues of red, blue, pink and green give the images a psychedelic quality reinforcing the surreal element of his project."

"In this deeply personal examination by a Western artist of his Asian counterparts, Tillman creates, through artful stage settings, a dramatic composition to convey a generation of forward looking individuals whose struggle with the country’s recent past, its oppressive regime, is a constant battle. As in his other photographs, the intense tonal quality and the ambiguous settings contrast with the stark reality of the memories and dreams that they depict."

The Printer's Ball, Come One, Come All

The Columbia College Chicago Library will be among hundreds of literary organizations participating in this year’s Printer’s Ball, sponsored by The Poetry Foundation and co-produced by Columbia College Chicago and the Center for Book and Paper Arts.

This year celebrates the fifth anniversary of the Printer’s Ball, which will be held on Friday, July 31^st from 5:00pm-11:00pm at Columbia's Luddington Building, 1104 S. Wabash. Materials from The Big Read will be available during the evening, including copies of Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury. Quantities are limited, so arrive early!

The Printer’s Ball is an annual celebration of print culture, featuring thousands of magazines, books and broadsides available free of charge. In addition to the materials giveaway, there will be live readings, printing and paper-making demonstrations and music throughout the evening.

Admission to the Printer's Ball is free and open to all ages. Don't miss this special event!

Come to the Largest Youth Poetry Festival in the World

Columbia College Chicago is proud to have been chosen, along with other Chicago institutions, to be a presenting partner and host-site for the 2009 Brave New Voices international youth poetry slam festival.




Between July 13th and 19th, Columbia’s residence centers, lounges and performance venues will host over 500 Teen Poetry Slam Champions from 45 parts of the country and 5 additional cities from across the globe, representing over 50,000 young poets in their local communities. For those of you not familiar with Brave New Voices, you can check out the very successful documentary series about last year’s festival (hosted by George Washington University) on HBO.

Please extend a warm welcome to these students and their mentors (some of whom may be considering Columbia as their future educational home!).

Bravo Reality Show for Artists - Casting Call!

Are you an artist? Are you interested in being on a reality show like Project Runway, The Fashion Show, or Top Design?

Bravo TV is holding a Nationwide Casting Call for Artists in Chicago. Interested artists will want to read through if interested in participating. Application form and details of what to bring to the casting call are available at: http://www.bravotv.com/casting


According to the website: "We want contemporary artists. Your medium could be one of many (or several of many) – painting, sculpture, installation, video, photography, mixed-media – we want voices that believe in their art and want the world to know."

Thursday, July 16, 10 AM – 2 PM
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Sullivan Galleries, 33 S. State Street

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.