News & Blog

Welcome to 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 know about!

UCF Libraries has more than just technological devices, research journals, and novels available for checkout. In fact, if you need something a bit more hands-on, the circulation desk is a good place to go to request such materials. As you find home in the study spaces throughout the John C. Hitt Library, you can utilize anatomy models, whiteboards, dry-erase markers, and erasers! These materials are available for check-out at the Circulation Desk near the study union-facing entrance of the John C. Hitt Library.

Here are some ground rules to remember:

• Use of all whiteboards is open
• There is no reservation system for whiteboards
• Only use dry-erase markers on the whiteboards
• The equipment cannot be taken to other floors of the library
• There are whiteboards available on all floors  
• Please be considerate in sharing with others!

We are happy to announce that the John C. Hitt Library and the Curriculum Materials Center has free activity kits for kids. Whether your little ones need something to do while you study or just want a fun take-home activity, please stop by the Circulation desk at the John C. Hitt Library or the CMC for a kit!

The kits include stickers, crayons, and coloring pages.

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.

Check your MyUCF account for any blocks, including library ones, before registering for classes to ensure there are no delays getting the courses you want.

ORLANDO, May 2018 – The University of Central Florida Libraries proudly announces the 2018 recipient of the June S Stillman Memorial Endowed Scholarship Sara Nazarian.

Sara Nazarian is a junior with a double major (History & Music), a GPA of 3.6, and plans to attend graduate school for a master’s in Museum Studies.  She began working as a library student assistant in Circulation Services in the John C. Hitt Library in May 2017.

The focus of her studies leads her to pursue internships, both domestic and international.  Her plans include spending a summer in Cuba to work on her undergraduate thesis on sex trafficking in Cuba.

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