News & Blog

Planning for the shift began over a year ago with a rotating roster of staff and faculty: Rich Gause, Frank Allen, Andrew Hackler, Ven Basco, Lindsey Ritzert, Andria Barratt, and Megan Humphries. While new members came in with transitions in staffing, bringing new perspectives, our goal was always the same: to find the most effective way to clear the 5^th floor.

We ran studies of the collection to nail down the scope and procedures of the project. Our analysis was detailed enough to dynamically leave growth space through the collection, continuously keep track of the space we were gaining, and ensure we were meeting our goals. With a budget and timetable set, we hired students in stages to meet increasing workloads.

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Joy Postle’s Rhapsody in Rose number 7.

Joy was a rare bird. She rather resembled the long-legged, wading birds found near Florida’s seacoast, lakes, marshes, and glades. A plein air artist, Postle patiently painted wildlife, enduring harsh environmental conditions, using watercolor, gouache, and pen and ink. To see Florida through the eyes of Joy Postle is to see breathtaking landscapes of a vivid, natural era. Detail, light, color, and even a sense of humor mixed with fantasy capture the imagination of viewers, reminding us of nature in its early, unblemished form.

The Joy Postle collection is located at the University of Central Florida in Special Collections and University Archives at the John C. Hitt Library. This collection of her life’s work includes artwork from the 1920’s to the 1980’s as well as ephemera highlighting aspects of her personal and professional life. Joy Postle was not only a self-supporting artist, she was also an entertainer, a writer, and an environmentalist.

The Joy Postle exhibit will be on display on the main floor of the John C. Hitt Library from November 1^st – November 30^th.

Jim Mauk has spent 35 years at UCF: initially in the Office of Instructional Resources, and then in the Libraries. During his UCF Libraries career, Jim has worked in Serials, Media, and now works in Circulation Services. Congratulations, Jim! We hope that you will enjoy retirement! However, it is a certainty that a great number of fish will not enjoy your retirement.

Yolanda Hood, head of the Curriculum Materials Center in the College of Education and Human Performance, has written an article for the UCF Forum about her experience as a librarian.
Yolanda loves her work. She shatters the traditional image of librarians: “…contrary to the pop culture image of librarians, I don’t sit around reading all day, prim and proper, in a pencil skirt, cardigan and cat-eye glasses, taking a break just to point finger to lips and shush students who are too loud.” Read more about the exciting work of a dynamic UCF librarian at http://today.ucf.edu/todays-libraries-and-librarians-have-shaken-off-stereotypical-images/

David Benjamin joined the UCF Libraries as Head of Special Collections & University Archives in September 2015. David comes from University of Arizona where he was the Assistant Director of the Volkerding Study Center at the Center for Creative Photography. Prior to that he was the Visual Materials Archivist at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

David has a Masters of Library Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison as well as a Masters of Architecture in American Architecture and Landscape History from the University of Kansas. An archivist for twenty-five plus years, David is involved with a number of regional, national, and international organizations including the Society of American Archivists, chairing their Visual Materials Section from 2010-2012; Association of Moving Image Archivists; Museum Computer Network; Midwest Archives Conference; and Society of Southwest Archivists.

In his first month at UCF, David has been involved with the upcoming exhibit Artist Joy Postle: Inspired by Nature and the acquisition of materials from the Home Movie Archive as well as the Sanford Public History Center. He is also getting to know the library, UCF, and the Orlando community in general.

We are thrilled to have David as part of the Library team!