University Library News and Updates - The Chicago School Library at TCS Education System

Welcome New and Returning Students

We're excited to start the Fall 2025 term, and have a lot of news to share with you! We encourage you to check out our Welcome Week activities, sign up for an informative webinar, or get assistance with our peer and expert coaching services, and 1:1 research consultations. Keep checking back as we'll have more news throughout the semester to share about upcoming events, new resources, time saving tips and more!

Welcome Week: September 2-6

Unlock the Code and Win!

image of friendly robot in a library

Fall Welcome Week kicks off the first week of September with an exciting virtual escape room: Library Lockdown. Test your skills by solving 4 fun challenges to unlock the code and disable the library’s security AI bot—plus, discover valuable library features for your studies.

Everyone that participates in the virtual escape room by September 6 @ 11:59pm will be entered into a drawing to win $25 Amazon gift cards. We're giving away 2 per campus, including online. Go to the Library Lockdown escape room now!

“Looking Forward to the Future”

drawing of person at computer with cup of coffee

Interested in writing a letter to your future self? Paper and envelopes will be provided at each library location, providing an opportunity to reflect on how you’re feeling at the start of your journey at the Chicago School and share your goals and aspirations. Once finished, seal your letter to open upon graduation—a meaningful way to capture your hopes and growth over the years. Online students can join in too! Use https://www.futureme.org/ to write a letter to your future self and choose the delivery date!

Stop by the Library

Grab some snacks, refreshments, and back-to-school supplies at each of our physical locations during Welcome Week, while they last. And while you're visiting, say hi to the friendly library staff and learn about library services and resources.

We're also excited to share the latest edition of the library's student-created Zine, Checked out, is now available. Click here to view, or pick up a copy in the library!

Attend a Webinar

Whether you're looking to improve your search skills, learn about new tools that can help your research process, or want to know more about navigating the complexities of Generative AI use, the library has a fall webinar for you! Webinars generally run 40-50 minutes, and are all posted in Central (CT) time.

A few topics offered this term:

For the full range of fall topics and to register, check out the calendar at https://calendar.library.thechicagoschool.edu

Peer & Expert Coaching

Help is available! Make an appointment for online 1:1 tutoring and coaching for writing, statistics, research, and academic skills, or get asynchronous feedback and review of your writing and more: Book a peer tutor or expert coach here

Recent Posts

Student Worker Spotlight: DC Campus

Our Student Workers are an integral part of our libraries, and we want to show our appreciation for their hard work by highlighting their voices with our new blog, Student Worker Spotlight.This month we’ll hear from three of our student workers at the Washington, DC campus - Kara, Tabatha, and Danielle - about what it’s like to work at the library and what they’ve learned. When did you start working at the library? Kara: I began working at the DC campus library in February 2025. Tabatha: I started working at the library in September of 2023, right after I began my master’s degree. Danielle: I started working in the library during the Fall of 2023, which was my first year in my program. What’s something you would have never known about the library if you didn’t work here? Kara: My role at The Chicago School Library has helped open a new world of resources that I have found beneficial to my research, studying, and career development. For example, I began using RefWorks to help me create citations more efficiently, resulting in a more productive writing process. Tabatha: That they will scan certain chapters of a book for me if I need, and email it to me! Also, they will get me access to articles the library does not currently have access to within 24 hours of me requesting it. Danielle: I wouldn’t have known just how many test kits are available! There really is almost any test kit you can imagine, and it’s great to be able to familiarize yourself with a test that you know you’re going to use. Do you have advice for other students using the library? Kara: My advice to other students using the library is to take advantage of the incredible resources available. If you need access to a journal article, use the resource sharing request, or interlibrary loan feature. If you are more of a visual learner, use the hundreds of video sources on the library website to deepen your understanding of certain topics. Tabatha: My advice would be to take advantage of the library. It is a great space to come in and do work if it is difficult for you to get work done at home. Also, take advantage of the online services, the librarians are a great resource if you are struggling with finding sources, citing, or generally structuring your ideas and sources. Danielle: If you’re struggling to find resources for a project, reach out to a librarian for help. They’re always super helpful and always happy to help a student in need. They can arrange meetings with you to sit down and go over research in depth. What is your favorite place to go near your campus? Kara: Of the many places near campus, my favorite has to be Devon and Blakely. I love their chicken Caesar wrap! Tabatha: I love “Dua Coffee” - they have great matcha lattes and cappuccinos. I also love “The Best Sandwich Place” by Farragut west, they really do have the best sandwiches. When I need a break, I sit out in one of the parks near campus and feel the squirrels and pigeons, they are sweet. Danielle: I like going on walks to the White House between classes! If you’re looking for a new place to study that’s relatively close to campus (about a 10–15-minute walk), I would recommend the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library. It has a lot of places to study, including an outdoor patio that’s pretty quiet. Stay tuned to hear from our Student Workers at other campuses as we talk about library life, reading recommendations, student tips, and more! ...

Staff Spotlight: Monica West

Meet Monica!Campus Location: LATitle: Research and Instruction Librarian Years in the field: 2 in January! Hi everyone! I’m your Research and Instruction Librarian here at The Chicago School, based in Los Angeles. I have a Master of Science in Information and a Master of Arts in German. When I’m not working, I enjoy playing Tabletop Role Playing Games with my friends, entertaining my three cats, and watching Critical Role or Dimension 20. What’s your favorite part of working at our library? Research Consultations. I love getting to meet students and helping them learn about how to use the library resources while talking about all of their interesting projects! What book made you fall in love with reading? The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. It’s the first book I can remember my grandfather reading to me, and I always loved his spirited narration and silly voices. What’s one library resource you think students would be surprised to know we have? Sage Campus/Sage Skills! These self-paced learning databases are great for picking up new skills or brushing off old ones, including study habits and business skills. What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever had? Unusual project: Before becoming a librarian, I was a freelance translator/copy editor for ten years, and I once translated a set of judging standards for a German chicken breed that was being brought to show in the US for the first time. What’s something you wish you had known in college that you know now? Good research and writing always take longer than you realize they do. What’s the funniest or most unusual thing you’ve ever been asked in the library? I help our chat co-op with questions from other academic libraries and once helped a student formulate a research question and find articles for natural animal abilities that mimic Pokémon. Are you a “pile it on the desk” or “everything in its place” kind of person? Pile it on the desk, absolutely. What’s your “happy place”? On the coast – give me the roar of the ocean any day. What’s something you could give a 30-minute presentation on with no prep? Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. As a forever DM, I have encyclopedic knowledge. What did you want to be when you grew up? A marine biologist. There’s so much about the ocean we don’t know! We are so lucky to have Monica on our Library Team!Stay tuned for more Staff Spotlight posts throughout the academic year. ...

New Resources Available in the Library

Check out the library's newest resources: Access Medicine A collection of medical learning resources featuring hundreds of books, review questions, cases, videos, podcasts, infographics, interactive 3D modules and more across the basic sciences and clinical specialties.The following sites are also available: AccessNeurology AccessPharmacyAccessPharmacy AccessPhysiotherapyClinicalKeyProvides streamlined access to evidence-based information for clinicians, delivering quick answers at the point of care. ClinicalKey features over 1,000 medical books published by Elsevier, including essential texts such as Gray's Anatomy, Rang & Dale's Pharmacology, and Goldman’s Cecil Medicine. It also offers access to more than 650 journals, 3,000 drug monographs, and 4,500 practice guidelines. Users can efficiently search and filter resources by source type, study type, specialty, and publication date.JAMA NetworkEnhanced access to the research, reviews, and perspectives shaping the future of medicine in the Journal of the American Medical Associtation (JAMA) and its 9 associated journals: JAMA Cardiology, Dermatology, Health Forum, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Surgery.JAMA EvidenceJAMAevidence is an online portal to valuable JAMA EBM resources, such as the Users' Guide to the Medical Literature and the Rational Clinical Examination. In addition, it contains calculators, a guide to statistics and methods, and a glossary.UptoDateIs a physician-authored clinical decision support resource used to make point-of-care decisions. More than 5,100 physician authors, editors and peer reviewers have synthesized the most recent medical information into evidence-based recommendations to improve patient care and quality. All of the databases are accessible using the Databases A-Z link on the library homepage. ...

Staff Spotlight: Sandhya Kammanadiminti

Say Hello to Sandhya!Campus location: DCTitle: Access Services SupervisorYears in the Field: 3 years; at this library - 1 monthHello, I am the new Library Access Services Supervisor at the DC campus. I have a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering with a minor in Construction Management, and I am currently pursuing my master's degree in Library and Information Science. When I'm not working or studying, I love baking, hiking, reading fantasy novels, and watching way too much TV.Q. What’s your favorite part of working at our library?A. I haven't been here long, but I like that I get to work with people while also having time to work on things in my own space.Q. What book made you fall in love with reading?A. The Percy Jackson series!Q. What’s one library resource you think students would be surprised to know we have?A. Access to Libby, even one of the student workers was surprised about it.Q. What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever had?A. I worked at a haunted house in college; over the years, I was a haunted doll, a shadow spirit, and a zombie bride.Q. What’s something you wish you had known in college that you know now?A. Make sure you make time for a social life, and sticky notes are your best friend.Q. What’s the funniest or most unusual thing you’ve ever been asked in the library?A. I once had a child ask me for a book on how to get your parents divorced so she could get twice the amount of presents for Christmas.Q. Are you a “pile it on the desk” or “everything in its place” kind of person?A. Definitely pile it on the desk, unfortunately.Q. What’s your “happy place”?A. There's this park next to a small lake in my hometown in Michigan, I always feel so peaceful whenever I'm there.Q. What’s something you could give a 30-minute presentation on with no prep?A. The Lord of the Rings and its associated works.Q. What did you want to be when you grew up?A. An actress, and then a teacher when I got a little older. Please join us in welcoming Sandhya to the University Library team!Stay tuned for more Staff Spotlight posts throughout the academic year. ...

Welcome to Fall 2025

Welcome New and Returning Students

Welcome Week: September 2-6

Attend a Webinar

Peer & Expert Coaching