News & Blog

Celebrate UCF Libraries Welcome to Our Associate Dean of Academic Engagement Tom Caswell

Welcome to UCF Libraries, Tom Caswell!

All Libraries Posted: October 20th, 2022

UCF Libraries is excited to announce the new Associate Dean of Academic Engagement, Tom Caswell!

Mr. Caswell received a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of Florida and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of South Florida. Since 2016, he has been the Associate Dean for public services at the University of North Florida, where he helped nurture public service areas through the uncertainties of the pandemic. He supported student and faculty research by serving on the UNF Research Council, Graduate School Council, the Undergraduate Research Advisory Council, and the Textbook Affordability Initiative. Mr. Caswell also supported diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education through membership in the UNF DEI College Collaborators, serving as the library liaison to the LGBTQ+ Resource Center and mentoring students as part of the Intercultural Center’s Connections Student Mentoring Program.

In addition at UNF, he facilitated the creation of two new faculty lines (Virtual Learning Librarian and STEM Online Learning Librarian) and reimagined five staff lines to support shifts in user needs while overseeing a robust research and instruction program that is responsive to the curricular needs of five distinct colleges comprised of over 17,000 graduate and undergraduate students.

Prior to UNF and over a period of 27 years, Mr. Caswell served in a variety of roles at the University of Florida, including several leadership positions, and culminating as Assistant Head Librarian, Architecture and Fine Arts Library.

Mr. Caswell has published and presented on library public services broadly and art librarianship specifically, with an overarching theme throughout of creativity and innovation in academic engagement. Mr. Caswell also has received two NEH grants to digitize the history and culture of our nation’s oldest city, St. Augustine, Florida.

When asked about what he anticipates most in his new position at UCF Libraries, he responded: “I’m excited to be joining a very dynamic team that is fully engaged in connecting users physically and virtually across library resources, services, and spaces.”

Congratulations, Tom, and welcome to the UCF Libraries family!

EndNote Update Banner

EndNote Update

All Libraries Posted: October 14th, 2022

Effective February 28, 2023, UCF Libraries’ subscription to EndNote Desktop will end. While the desktop version licensed through UCF will no longer be accessible, there are a variety of options for those who wish to continue using EndNote. This includes using EndNote Online through the Libraries subscription to Web of Science or creating a free account through EndNote Basic. Individuals may also purchase their own license of the desktop version for personal use. Those who have already purchased the desktop version through a personal, individual license can continue to use it beyond the February 2023 date.  

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"UCF Libraries Celebrates Diversity" image on right of people of different ethnicities and abilities standing on a globe with a starry night background

Diversity Week 2022

All Libraries, Events Posted: October 12th, 2022

UCF Diversity Week is a celebration of our diverse community and an opportunity to explore topics across the broad range of   human identity, experience, and interaction. Diversity Week activities are intended to stimulate our campus and move us to a more inclusive culture. UCF Libraries is hosting a series of events focused on diverse voices from the Libraries’ collections and at UCF.

Diversity Week Events at UCF Libraries:

Start Your Week Stress Free with Coloring
Monday, October 17
10:00 am – 2:00 pm
John C. Hitt Library/Curriculum Materials Center
Downtown Campus Library/Rosen Campus Library

Learning about diversity and inclusion doesn’t need to be stressful. Kick off your 2022 Diversity Week experience with some stress free coloring. Relax near the Circulation Desks at the John C. Hitt Library, Curriculum Material Center (Ed Complex), Rosen Campus Library and Downtown Library (in Dr. Phillips Academic Commons) with crayons and our custom Diversity Week Coloring pages. Shout out to Gaby Gomez for designing the pages!

Graphic Novel Book Club – Pilu of the Woods
Tuesday, October 18
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Zoom

Join UCF Libraries in a engaging discussion about the graphic novelization of Pilu of the Woods by Mai K. Nguyen. Don’t forget to read the book first! The link to an electronic version owned by UCF Libraries will be sent in your registration confirmation.

Register to attend at: Diversity Week Graphic Novel Book Club: Pilu of the Woods

A heartwarming story of friendship, loss, and finding your way home from debut author/illustrator Mai K. Nguyen!

Willow loves the woods near her house. They’re calm and quiet, so different from her own turbulent emotions, which she keeps locked away. When her emotions get the better of her one day, she decides to run away into the woods.

There, she meets Pilu, a lost tree spirit who can’t find her way back home—which turns out to be the magnolia grove Willow’s mom used to take her to. Willow offers to help Pilu, and the two quickly become friends.

But the journey is long, and Pilu isn’t sure she’s ready to return home yet—which infuriates Willow, who’s determined to make up for her own mistakes by getting Pilu back safely. As a storm rages and Willow’s emotions bubble to the surface, they suddenly take on a physical form, putting both girls in danger… and forcing Willow to confront her inner feelings once and for all..

Crochet Your Pride…Flag, with Gaby
Wednesday, October 19
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
John C. Hitt Library 170

Learn to crochet a Pride flag (color options for rainbow, trans pride and UCF pride) as Downtown Library staff member, Gaby, takes you step by step through it live in this workshop.

Note this session is limited to 15 participants. A crochet hook and yarn will be provided. Please sign up using this registration link.

Live film discussion: The Revolution Generation
Wednesday, October 19
7:00 – 8:30 pm
John C. Hitt Library 402

Join UCF Libraries for a Live, in – person film discussion of the 2021 film The Revolution Generation!

The number of Millennials in the United States — those born between approximately 1978 and 2000 — is near 80 million people. They’re the most diverse generation in America, with 56 percent of them registered as politically Independent, and every single one of them will be needed if the planet is to avoid climate catastrophe. In THE REVOLUTION GENERATION, filmmakers Josh Tickell and Rebecca Tickell  spotlight a generation that has been mischaracterized, mislabeled, and mistakenly mocked.

Through interviews and highlighting a theory by authors/generational demographists Neil Howe and William Strauss that history can be viewed as a series of 80-year cycles — and within that, into four “seasons” that bring with them profound societal changes — the film shows the impact of the WWII Generation, Baby Boomers, and Gen X. But Millennials occupy a special spot: They’re creators of social tech and native digital users, are anti-corporate crusaders, are more empathetic than any previous group, and they now have to secure voting rights, equality, and the safety of the planet itself. Can they do it?

A kinetic, perceptive documentary of a generation and why they are who they are, THE REVOLUTION GENERATION is also, as Josh Tickell says, “A how-to manual for saving the earth.”

Open Heart, Open Mic
Thursday, October 20
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
John C. Hitt Library – 402

Experience the creative works of Knights and friends around the world sharing what the Knight community means to them. Walk in presentations are welcome! 

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.

Color Your Story bookend decorating
Friday, October 21
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
John C. Hitt Library and Downtown Library

How would you color your story?

Join UCF Libraries at 3 locations to decorate bookends using paint pens, permanent markers, and decoupage as a way to illustrate your truth and lived experiences. Plus you get a great decoration to take home!

Locations:
– On Main Campus, outside the new Student Union facing entrance of the John C. Hitt Library.
– On Downtown Campus, Dr. Philips Academic Commons Library.
– On Rosen Campus, Library room 120F.

Virtual film discussion: Dolores
Friday, October 21
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Zoom

Join UCF Libraries for a virtual discussion of the 2017 film Dolores!

Film description:
Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized. Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century – and she continues the fight to this day, at 87. With intimate and unprecedented access to this intensely private mother to eleven, the film reveals the raw, personal stakes involved in committing one’s life to social change.

Please watch Dolores before logging into the discussion session.

Register to attend the virtual discussion of Dolores at: Diversity Week Virtual Film Discussion: Dolores

You can also find film suggestions and puzzles on our guide at guides.ucf.edu/diversityweek

Hurricane Update

LibTech – Hurricane Ian Update

LibTech Posted: September 27th, 2022

LibTech will be closing at 7:00pm on Tuesday September 27th and will remain closed until Monday October 3rd at 10:00am. Please make note of the following:

  • If you have items on loan, please hold onto them and keep them safe / dry.
  • All items that were due Monday 9/26 through Friday 9/30 have had their due dates automatically changed to Tuesday 10/4 at 9:00pm.
  • All items checked out on Tuesday 9/27 will be due back on Tuesday 10/4 at 9:00pm.
  • If something prevents you from returning to campus Tuesday 10/4, please let us know at the time of check in next week and we will work with you.

Please be safe, make good choices, and we look forward to seeing you again next week when campus reopens. Thank you!

Variety of book covers on top of a yellow background

Staff Book Recommendations

All Libraries, Collections, John C. Hitt Library Posted: August 29th, 2022

If you’re having trouble finding your next read, don’t worry, we have lots of reading suggestions from our staff! All the books listed are available in your library for check out.

The Last World by Christoph Ransmayr

This Austrian author is fond of stories within stories within stories, time-bending, and genre-blurring (also check out his multilayered Terrors of Ice and Darkness). This retelling of Greek and Roman mythology is also a mystery, a fantasy, and historical fiction. The main character, Cotta, sets out from worldly and wondrous Rome in search of his friend, the poet Ovid, who had been exiled to a decaying town on the Black Sea as a result of insulting, through his poetry, the Emperor Augustus. Cotta encounters people who knew Ovid, and they tell his fantastical stories of transformation. But these individuals themselves also become the characters of myth, with their existence woven into the ancient mythological tales. The obsession of the poet drives the obsession of Cotta to learn more. The book, like a metamorphosis, is as unsettling as it is beautiful.

Beau Case, Dean of Libraries

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

The Sympathizer is the story of this captain: a man brought up by an absent French father and a poor Vietnamese mother, a man who went to university in America, but returned to Vietnam to fight for the Communist cause. Viet Thanh Nguyen’s astonishing novel takes us inside the mind of this double agent, a man whose lofty ideals necessitate his betrayal of the people closest to him. A gripping spy novel, an astute exploration of extreme politics, and a moving love story, The Sympathizer explores a life between two worlds and examines the legacy of the Vietnam War in literature, film, and the wars we fight today”–Publisher’s website.

Also, HBO has ordered the A24 drama series adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel with Downey attached to co-star. Downey will play multiple characters in the series, including a California congressman, a CIA agent, a Hollywood movie director, and more, with the plot following a half-French, half-Vietnamese Communist spy during the war and his exile to the United States, in what’s designed as a cross between a cultural satire and a political thriller. https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/robert-downey-jr-s-hbo-series-the-sympathizer-shoots-this-summer/

Ven Basco, University Librarian

Packing for Mars : the curious science of life in the void by Mary Roach

The author of Stiff and Bonk explores the irresistibly strange universe of space travel and life without gravity. Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations. As the author discovers, it’s possible to preview space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA’s new space capsule (cadaver filling in for astronaut), she takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth.

Megan Haught, Administrative Assistant

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

A gripping tale that reads as if it were a whodunit. It recounts the vast fire in 1986 that destroyed many valuable materials at the main location of the Los Angeles Public Library. It delves into fire and arson science, but also reveals the major workings of a research library. And who really started the fire?

Richard Harrison, Associate Librarian

Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler

I love many of Anne Tyler’s novels due to her fully developed characters, but this one is my favorite.  It is a touching story of 17-year-old Ian Bledsoe in 1965 whose careless comment leads to tragedy that changes him and his family forever.  The novel follows him and his family over 20 years as he tries to atone for what he has done. 

Dawn Tripp, Library Technical Assistant

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris

The first in a trilogy of books about the life of Theodore Roosevelt won both the Pulitzer and National Book Award for Biography.  This is a well-researched and wonderfully approachable book about the life of Roosevelt prior to become president.  The reader has an intimate look into the events that shaped and molded Roosevelt from a sickly, privileged child of New York into the Rough Rider, Progressive reformer, and future president.  This is a book that I revisit and one I recommend to readers of history or biographies. 

Jason Phillips, Associate Librarian

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Surprisingly funny story of how the author’s existence was a crime; being born to a white Swiss father and Xhosa mother at a time when such a birth was punishable by five years in prison.  Trevor shares his unusual upbringing of being hidden by his mother until the end of apartheid. I enjoyed the author’s humorous stories but also the opportunity to learn about this period in South African history from a personal perspective and how it affected those forced to live under it.  

Cindy Dancel, Graphics Specialist

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