News & Blog

Every October UCF celebrates Diversity Week. This year’s dates are October 16 – 20, and the theme is Transform and Inspire Inclusion. University-wide departments and groups champion the breadth and culture within the UCF community, and work to increase acceptance and inclusion for everyone at UCF and the surrounding communities.

One of the fantastic things about UCF is the wide range of cultures and ethnicities of our students, staff, and faculty. We come from all over. We’re just as proud of where we are from as we are of where we are now.

For information about the Library Diversity Week activities visit: guides.ucf.edu/diversityweek

Join the UCF Libraries as we celebrate diverse voices and subjects with the suggestions in the link below. You can also see a physical display with these books on the 2nd floor of the John C. Hitt Library next to the bank of two elevators.

Featured Bookshelf: UCF Celebrates Diversity

During spring and summer 2017, a total of 105 new electrical outlets were installed in the John C. Hitt Library.
Many are quads, meaning 4 devices can be plugged into the outlet. All have a USB connector. 9 are currently “in process”, almost completed. A few are “swap-outs”, replacing old outlets. But most are completely new, bringing power to seats where it was previously inaccessible.

24 outlets are on the 2nd (main) floor.
29 outlets are on the 3rd floor.
52 are on the 4th floor.

…Giving new meaning to our cheer “Go Knights! CHARGE ON!”

Work has been completed on the restrooms on the “Student Union side” of the John C. Hitt Library.

Restrooms on 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors have been updated and upgraded to be more accessible.

Thanks to everyone for their patience, with the noise, dust, and inconvenience. It is great to have new restrooms completed as work continues on the 21st Century Library project.

Join us for a lunch break Open Heart Open Mic on Thursday, September 28 from 12-1:15PM in John C. Hitt Library room 223. The UCF Libraries is partnering with the Women’s & Gender Studies Program to present an ongoing open mic event series.

You are welcome to bring a story, poem, song, or any other vocal presentation to share – on any topic.

For more information, check our event page.

Any original work presented at an Open Heart Open Mic event will be eligible to be listed in STARS KnightVerse. STARS is UCF’s digital repository designed to disseminate, publicize, and share works by, for, and about UCF. KnightVerse is the area within STARS for library related student work. After presenting, see the Open Heart Open Mic host for information about submitting your original work.

Archival materials from Special Collections & University Archives were featured in the first episode of Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s documentary The Vietnam War. This episode, titled “Déjà vu (1858-1961),” looks at events in Vietnam leading up to the Vietnam War. The filmmakers used several photographs from the “Archimedes L.A. Patti Research Papers, 1922-1993.” From the Patti collection’s finding aid:

This collection contains the research materials collected by Archimedes L. A. Patti for use in his historical writings. Known for his military career, his work in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and his relationship with Ho Chi Minh, Patti was recognized later in life as a respected researcher and historian on Indochina affairs. Notes, manuscripts, ephemera, photographs, maps, books and scrapbooks are held in this collection. Of important note are photographs given to Patti by Ho Chi Minh in 1945.

The collection includes photographs given to Archimedes Patti by Ho Chi Minh, then Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, documenting famine condition in Vietnam in 1945. Additionally, Patti wrote Why Viet Nam?: Prelude to America’s Albatross, published by the University of California Press in 1980.

Edit on 12/13/2017: We were happy to hear that The Vietnam War won the AFI Special Award.