Columbia College Chicago Library was awarded a $16,200 grant for its fourth Big Read.

The Big Read at Columbia College Chicago will occur from April 1 through May 13, 2016, and feature The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett.  Previous Big Reads hosted by the Library have included Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury), The Things They Carried (Tim O’Brien) and In the Time of the Butterflies (Julia Alvarez).

The Big Read is a literacy initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to encourage reading among all ages across the country through grant funded “communities”.  Each community supports reading through giveaways and discussion groups by providing free copies of supported titles and developing programs such as lectures, film screenings, panels, art exhibits, and other types of presentations related to them.  Columbia was one of 75 organizations who received support.  While planning is underway, we will host a Film Noir Festival (Maltese Mondays), a fashion show, as well as book discussion groups throughout the Chicago area.  More information will be available in early Spring 2016.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.