Category: John C. Hitt Library

Diamond's Hidden Gems

Diamond’s Hidden Gems – ARC

Welcome to the tenth installment of Diamond’s Hidden Gems, a blog series in which I introduce you to the University of Central Florida’s library services that you may not have known about!

ARC & General Collection

If you’ve been inside the John C. Hitt Library, you’d find it a bit hard to believe that in the north side of the building, there is a room containing nearly 800 thousand volumes of the library’s print collection, placed in bins three stories high, for retrieval by 3 robotic cranes.

Below, I give you everything you need to know about the technology that makes retrieving library materials for student-use quick and easy!

The Automated Retrieval Center (ARC) is the second phase of a multi-year project of library expansion and renovation. Completed in Fall 2020, the existing library building was expanded to connect to the ARC, which created the entrance that faces the Student Union.

The ARC houses the following materials: 

  • Call numbers A-M
  • Almost 100% of Call numbers PR-PZ and Q-QA76.

A request for items stored in the ARC is initiated normally: by any UCF user directly from the online library catalog. When a request is placed, staff will retrieve items and send out an email when the item is ready.

If you’d like to see the ARC in action, you can get a window-sized peek from the third floor. Viewing windows are located near the Student Union side of the library along the brick wall.

To read more about the ARC, check out the full version of Diamond’s Hidden Gems – ARC in STARS.

Diamond's Hidden Gems

Diamond’s Hidden Gems – Special Collections & University Archives

Hello, everyone! My name is Diamond Williams; I am a second-year double-majoring in Criminal Justice and Writing & Rhetoric. Welcome to the ninth installment of Diamond’s Hidden Gems, a blog series in which I introduce you to the University of Central Florida’s library services that you may not have known about!

If you’re looking for a sixteenth-century book, artifacts from the early days of Walt Disney World, or the history of UCF, the UCF Libraries Special Collections & University Archives has what you need. Special Collections & University Archives (SCUA) houses the library’s rare, unique, and one-of-a-kind materials.

SCUA also provides an opportunity for students to showcase their art and potentially win a monetary prize. To learn more about the department, read on!

Special Collections contains original family papers, maps, photographs, oral histories, and more. You can view collections about: African Americana, Botany, Floridiana, Political Papers, Theme Parks, and more.

The University Archives holds materials on the University of Central Florida, formerly Florida Technological University, from its beginnings in 1963 to the current day. You can view collections about: Black Student Union History, University Branches, Offices, Services, and Programs, University Documents, and more.

UCF’s SCUA department holds an annual Student Book Arts Competition, in which students have the opportunity to showcase their handmade artists’ books and have them added to the permanent Book Arts & Typography Collection.

If you’d like to learn more about SCUA and the Book Arts Competition, visit Diamond’s Hidden Gems – Special Collections & University Archives in STARS.

Photo of yellow lab against bright teal background with text Therapy dogs at your library

Therapy Dogs at your Library

We’re very lucky to have the UCF Police Department bring their K9s into the library to help our students destress and we hope you’ve been lucky enough to meet them. If you haven’t yet had a chance to see them, follow us on social media to hear about their next visit! We’re also excited to announce an upcoming class presented by the UCF Police Department all about one of our favorite subjects: doggoes! We hope you’ll join us on Monday, 2/20 at 2pm in Room 170 for a history of the K9 program.

Photo of a yellow lab named Chipper with two students petting him

The Hitt Library has had a few good boys and girls visit us including Chipper from the UCF Police Department and Bodhi from the UCF Counseling and Psychological Services. We hope you will be able to join us for one of our therapy dog sessions in the library and enjoy these photos of past visits with them.

Chipper is a three year old yellow lab partnered with Detective Melissa Guadagnino. He is a very hard worker with many duties on campus so we are always grateful when he can make the time to cheer up our students in the library. He enjoys belly rubs and head scratches and is an all around very good boy.

Close up photo of a yellow lab named Chipper

Photo of a small white Havanese dog against a green grass background

Bodhi is an 11 year old Havanese partnered with Valeska Wilson-Cathcart and together they are a registered therapy dog team working out of the UCF Counseling and Psychological Services. Bodhi loves playing outside and chasing balls and can frequently be seen at various CAPS outreach events across campus.

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