News & Blog

What terrors lurk in the heart of humanity? What scary thoughts skulk in the corners of your mind? What dark and spooky words will cross your page?

Can you creep out UCF Libraries staff with a scary story set in one of the UCF Library buildings?

Submit your scary story for the annual Knight Terror Library writing contest by 11:59 pm on October 27, 2019 to see if you can cause the best fright.

• Contest for UCF students only.
• One entry per student.
• 500 words or less.
• Story must be set in one of the UCF Library buildings (John C. Hitt Library, Curriculum Materials Center, Rosen Library, Downtown Library, or one of the Connect campus libraries).
• Stories with explicit sexual content will not be considered for this contest.

Submit your scary short story here

Winners will be announced on October 31, and be immortalized in STARS KnightVerse. First place wins a Libraries coffee mug and construction ducky. Second place wins a UCF Libraries water bottle and Pegasus sticker.

Judges reserve the right to not select a winner due to limited submissions, or lack of exceptional submissions.

Every October UCF celebrates Diversity Week. This year’s dates are October 14 – 18, and the theme is Empowering Equity. 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 and where we will be heading in future.

UCF Libraries will be offering a full slate of Diversity Week activities. To learn about the upcoming library events visit: guides.ucf.edu/diversityweek

Join the UCF Libraries as we celebrate diverse voices and subjects with these suggestions. Click on the link below to see the full list, descriptions, and catalog links for the featured UCF Celebrates Diversity titles suggested by UCF Library employees. These 12 books plus many more are also on display on the 2nd (main) floor of the John C. Hitt Library next to the bank of two elevators.

And thank you to every Knight who works to help others feel accepted and included at UCF!

Featured Bookshelf: UCF Celebrates Diversity

A Close Look at Meteorites/Create a Moon Phase Calendar
Wed, October 2, 2019 12pm – 2pm
John C. Hitt Library
Main Floor

A free craft event to celebrate the International Observe the Moon Night festivities at UCF. Join us to view and learn about meteorites brought to you by the Astronomy Society and make your own 2019 Moon Phase Calendar. We will have a table set up on the main floor of the John C. Hitt Library starting at 12:00 noon.

“Looking Forward to the Moon”
Talk by Dr. Kerri Donaldson Hanna
Thurs, October 3, 2019
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
John C. Hitt Library
Rm 223

Join us for a moon talk led by Dr. Kerri Donaldson Hanna to celebrate the 2019 International Observe the Moon Night event at the John C. Hitt LIbrary! Dr. Hanna is a planetary geologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Central Florida (UCF). She received her BS in Space Sciences from Florida Institute of Technology in 1999, her MS in Geological Sciences at Brown University in 2010, and her PhD in Geological Sciences from Brown University in 2013. Dr. Donaldson Hanna was a postdoctoral researcher within the Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Planetary Physics sub-department at the University of Oxford before receiving a UK Space Agency Aurora Research Fellowship to continue her research at Oxford for an additional 3.5 years. While at Oxford, she held a Junior Research Fellowship at Christ Church College and was awarded the early career Winton Capital Geophysics Award from the Royal Astronomical Society.

Knights Under the Stars
International Observe the Moon Event (InOMN)
Saturday, October 5, 2019
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Knights Plaza

Come join us for a fun filled evening full of moon activities for all ages! Earn your InOMN passport by passing through our moon phase hands-on activity/event stations to learn more about the moon! Activities will include cratering, understanding Moon landings from countries around the world, scale models, telescope observing (of the Moon and other celestial objects),  water rockets, robotic mining, moon coloring, and books and resources for checking out from UCF Libraries!

For more information visit:

“Knights Under the Stars” Public Event Schedule – UCF Planetary Sciences Group

Follow the UCF Robinson Observatory and UCF Library on Twitter or Facebook for updates including possible weather delays or cancellations.

Planning Your Literature Review

Tuesday, October 15, 2019
4:30 pm – 6:00 pm
Classroom Bldg. I, Room 220

Good strategies provide a sound basis for planning your literature review. The first part of this session highlights strategies for conducting literature searches, identifying related sources, staying up to date on relevant publications, and Google Scholar tips. The second-part of the session will introduce STEM resources and citation management tools (EndNote, RefWorks, & Mendeley). Please bring your laptop or device for hands-on practice.

To register for this session, please use the following link Planning Your Literature Review

Flex Your Data Management Muscles

Tuesday, November 12, 2019
4:00-pm 5:00 pm
Classroom Bldg. I, Room 220

Healthy data management builds a foundation for strong research. Exercise your abilities to document, store, and share data using data management processes and tools. This session will cover the components of a data management plan and introduce participants to the DMPTool. Please bring your laptop or device for hands-on practice

To register for this session, please use the following link Flex Your Data Management Muscles

Please join us in the Spring 2020 for workshops on Data Visualization and Research Impact Metrics. Check UCF Libraries Events Page for details to follow: https://library.ucf.edu/about/news-events/

For registration questions, please contact Corinne.Bishop@ucf.edu or Sarah.Norris@ucf.edu

Have you ever read Bridge to Terabithia or The Hunger Games? Then you’ve read a book banned for its religious viewpoint.

What about And Tango Makes Three or I Am Jazz? They were banned for having LGBTQ+ characters.

American Library Association’s Banned Books Week is September 22 – 28. It celebrates the wide range of books that have been challenged in their own libraries across the nation.

If you would like to pick up your own banned book to read, we have a full reading list ready for you.

Read a banned book with us this week: guides.ucf.edu/reading-lists/bannedbooks