News & Blog

New books enter the UCF Libraries system on a regular basis. At the John C. Hitt Library, we select those with interesting titles, eye-catching dust jackets, or timely topics to feature on a display. The books range in subject from photography, science, and history to poetry, novels, and biographies. The display, which is next to the seating area at the Research & Information Desk, changes around every two weeks.

Stop by. Maybe there will be one you want to take home with you.

Here is a small selection of the 50 books that are currently on the display:

To keep up with all the new additions to the New Book Display, follow our guide.

April is National Poetry Month and UCF Libraries is dashing forward with enthusiasm to celebrate.

Poetry Contests!

Sonnets – Submissions due by April 8, 2018 at 11:59 pm.
The sonnet is a fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter, which employ one of several rhyme schemes and adhere to a tightly structured thematic organization. Sonnet styles via Academy of American Poets. Your submission can be on any subject.

Celebrating Libraries – Submissions due by April 15, 2018 at 11:59 pm
Poem of any style or length about library (general or specific)

Haiku by You – Submissions due by April 22, 2018 at 11:59 pm
“Haiku” is a traditional form of Japanese poetry. Haiku poems consist of 3 lines. The first and last lines of a Haiku have 5 syllables and the middle line has 7 syllables. The lines rarely rhyme.

Submit your poems here.

Contests are open to UCF students only.

Erasure Poetry

An Erasure Poetry table will be set up between the Circulation Desk and Reference Desk from April 2 – 6. Staff favorites will be displayed on the windows by the entrance and on library social media accounts.

Featured Poems

The UCF Libraries Tumblr account will feature daily poems which are favorites of library staff. Tag us in your favorites on Tumblr!

Join us for a lunch break Open Heart Open Mic on Thursday, February 15 from 12-1:15PM in John C. Hitt Library room 223. The UCF Libraries is partnering with the Women’s & Gender Studies Program to present an ongoing open mic event series.

You are welcome to bring a story, poem, song, or any other vocal presentation to share – on any topic.

For more information, check our event page.

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.

No library can possibly have every book or article, and when you are doing research there are times where you need something that the UCF library just doesn’t have. This is when you need to call in the experts at the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) office. Libraries call this resource sharing, a way for libraries to make their resources available to each other in an efficient way.

Where do I go to make an ILL request?

Go to the Borrowing from Other Libraries webpage. There is a video introduction to the ILLiad software showing you how to make a request.

Things to think about

1. Don’t wait until the last minute to make your resource list for a project or paper. Interlibrary loan can take from 7-10 business days for a book (depending on where we get it from – it could be from Florida or from California). So, request your books early!
2. Articles are sent electronically within 3-5 business days typically. So, request your articles early!
3. While it seems like a good idea to interlibrary loan textbooks, most often other libraries will not lend them. Academic libraries generally keep textbooks on reserve for their own students and don’t share with other libraries. So, please keep this in mind.
4. We always try our best, but we are not miracle workers. That means that we can’t always fill your requests 🙁. Out of 16,000 requests from all of you last year, we filled 90% of them. Those are amazing stats, by the way.

Have any questions? Contact the Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery Services Department in the John C. Hitt Library 2^nd floor room 222. You can also call us at (407) 823-2383 or email us at  illbor@ucf.edu

During February, an exhibit of material about the Buffalo Soldiers will be displayed in the John C. Hitt Library on the main floor. The Buffalo Soldier Historical Society is installing the exhibit to celebrate African American History month. The Society’s mission is to preserve, promote, and perpetuate the history of African-American military units from 1775 to 1951.

All are welcome to a presentation on Friday, February 2 at 2.00 p.m. in the John C. Hitt Library Room 223 for an exciting presentation on an important part of our history.