News & Blog

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.

Students! The wait is over! Come join UCF Libraries as we “Explore the 3^rd Floor” on Monday, February 27^th. Come check out the 3^rd floor renovations from 10 am to 12 pm. Starting at the glass stairwell, come look for clues and answer questions about the new spaces. The activity will end in the Academic Engagement Suite and ducks will be provided to the first 300 participants.

The 21^st Century Library continues to evolve with Phase IIA, the renovation of the library’s third floor. Demolition, renovation, and inspections will take place on the third floor until projected completion in spring/summer 2023.   

The third floor will remain closed during this phase of the project. Stairwells and elevators are marked with signs and caution tape as a reminder that the floor is not accessible.  

Most third floor materials have been added to the ARC. Media and microforms have moved to the first floor. Current periodicals have moved to the fourth floor. Newspapers and magazines have moved to the second floor by the Circulation Desk.  

Phase IIA design improvements include a Graduate Student Commons, 30 group study rooms, 520 public seats, 36 desktop PC stations, shelving for 35,000 volumes, and an office suite for subject liaison librarians. For more information regarding the project, please visit our 21^st Century Library page. 

Beginning Wednesday, May 5, the third floor, including its study rooms, will be closed to the public. Study rooms on the fourth and first floor will remain open and can be reserved by visiting library.ucf.edu/studyrooms or stopping by the Circulation Desk in the John C. Hitt Library.

The 3rd floor of the John C. Hitt Library will be closed between Tuesday, January 19 – Saturday, January 21, 2021.

This temporary closure is part of the preparation for the upcoming renovations to the 3rd floor spaces which will begin later this year. Stairwells and elevators will be marked with signs and caution tape as a reminder that the floor is not accessible.

If you need a book or other physical library material located on the 3rd floor, please request it at ucflib.fyi/requestbook

The 3rd floor restrooms in the original 1967 portion of the building near the bank of three elevators will permanently close on January 19, 2021. New restrooms will be added to that section as part of the renovations.

For updates on the renovations, check out our 21st Century Library page.