News & Blog

Congratulations to Serena Pancham, the winner of the UCF Libraries 2017 Ode to a Library Poetry Contest. Her poem, Cardboard Skins, has become a permanent part of the UCF Digital Collections in the KnightVerse section Showcase of Text, Archives, Research & Scholarship (STARS).

Cardboard Skins

-Serena Pancham

We begin in silence

In deafening silence we hear

How loud our minds ache to speak

Quiet

Is the presence between cardboard casings

          Shuffling,

                         Downward,

                                         Slowly yet softly

Evident within ourselves is the hushed indication of progression

Gears of the mind lock into place

With every moving second

Conversations churn

Broken is the threshold

How loud our minds ache to speak

We begin in conversation

In deafening noise we hear

How loud our minds ache to speak

Alive

Is the presence between cardboard casings

Like clockwork, we are continuous

We are saddened today by the passing of an outstanding and beloved colleague, Phyllis J. Hudson.

Phyllis J. Hudson worked as a UCF librarian for 34 years. She worked in several departments in the library, most notably in Reference and Instruction, touching the lives of thousands of FTU and UCF students. Phyllis was a tireless advocate for UFF and for women’s rights both in libraries and in the community. Documents from the time of Phyllis’s service to UFF and work with a number of organizations can be found in the UCF Archives https://scua.library.ucf.edu/

In 1989, Phyllis received the UCF Excellence in Librarianship award. She was awarded Emerita status in 2006. Phyllis might respond to this by pointing out that her greatest achievement is the five children she raised with her husband, Paul.

Colleagues today remember her “energy, vitality and passion for life.” Others remember that “I was humbled by her intellect, commitment, and generosity of spirit with colleagues and students,” that Phyllis was “not afraid to stand up and question things. She was a wonderful woman who was a mainstay of this library for years,” and that Phyllis was “a wonderful librarian and colleague” and “a most excellent teacher. Let us say that she left no stone unturned :>)“ Many share this colleague’s sentiment: “ She served UCF and UFF with intellect, grace and humor. She helped us see the best in ourselves and reminded us to be thoughtful in our words and actions when discussions got heated. She was an awesome lady I am honored to have known.”

Good news! 98 seats and the newly-remodeled restroom have now opened up on the quiet 4th floor of the John C. Hitt Library. These seats are located next to the windows on the “south” side of the floor. Work continues on the remainder of that half of the floor, which is still covered with a curtain of black plastic. So it is possible that construction noise will be a part of your experience there for the rest of the semester. 235A and 235C remain open for quiet study. Remember that earplugs are available at the Circulation Desk, if you need them.
Thanks for enduring the inconvenience, Knights; it’s part of getting ready for the 21st Century Library.

Come join us for our annual spring Kram for the Exam. SGA will be walking around the John C. Hitt Library handing out goodies and study materials during the following dates and times:

• Tuesday, April 25, 1 pm & 6 pm
• Thursday, April 27, 2 pm & 6 pm

Hope to see you here and good luck on your exams!

Every year, the UCF faculty and staff community donate to the Believe campaign. The campaign benefitted all colleges, departments, and initiatives on campus, as well as funding services that provide direct help to students, like Knights Helping Knights Pantry, and scholarships like First Generation Scholarships and the Libraries’ June Stillman Scholarship. The 21st Century Library building fund was also a beneficiary of Believe.

To encourage participation, our own David Benjamin, head of Special Collections, selflessly offered to go blonde if the library increased their participation to 51%.

The totals are in: the UCF Libraries had a 59% participation rate this year! We are proud to have helped UCF donate a total of over one million dollars to many worthy causes.

David’s new look has not changed his enthusiasm for Special Collections and Archives (SCUA). Check out the display on the 5th floor of the John C. Hitt Library, Recollections of a Cartoonist: The Glenn “Marty” Stein Collection of Cartoon Art, 1955-2013 to sample some of SCUA’s excellent work. And if you spot David Benjamin, ask him if it’s true blondes have more fun.