News & Blog

American history is a broad and varied topic. It ranges from the native inhabitants who formed communities here thousands of years ago to the creation of a new nation of states to the dreamers who immigrate to these shores today. It is a vast tract of information to cover, but it is important that we all learn about our past. As Edmund Burke said in Reflections on the Revolution in France, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.”

The founders of the United States, beyond their faults and foibles, began this nation with a grand and noble sentiment of “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity….”

“We the people” is us.  Join us this month as we explore our past to help ensure “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” applies to us all.

Click on the link below to see the full list, descriptions, and catalog links for the featured titles on American History suggested by UCF Library employees. These 20 books plus many more are also on display on the 2^nd (main) floor of the John C. Hitt Library next to the bank of two elevators.

Featured Bookshelf: American History

Today marks two years since Orlando lost 49 members of its community to violence. If you or someone you know could use a hand dealing with the anniversary of this painful event, please reach out to someone by clicking this link. UCF has many resources to help our students and we want you to use them.

UCF also has many events this week to commemorate and remember those we lost. A list of those are available here and there is a list of events in Orlando here.

The following is a list of the names of those we lost.

Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old

Amanda L. Alvear, 25 years old

Oscar A. Aracena Montero, 26 years old

Rodolfo Ayala Ayala, 33 years old

Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old

Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old

Angel Candelario-Padro, 28 years old

Juan Chavez Martinez, 25 years old

Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old

Cory James Connell, 21 years old

Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old

Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old

Simón Adrian Carrillo Fernández, 31 years old

Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old

Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old

Peter Ommy Gonzalez Cruz, 22 years old

Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old

Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old

Frank Hernandez, 27 years old

Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old

Javier Jorge Reyes, 40 years old

Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old

Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old

Anthony Luis Laureano Disla, 25 years old

Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old

Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old

Brenda Marquez McCool, 49 years old

Gilberto R. Silva Menendez, 25 years old

Kimberly Jean Morris, 37 years old

Akyra Monet Murray, 18 years old

Luis Omar Ocasio Capo, 20 years old

Geraldo A. Ortiz Jimenez, 25 years old

Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old

Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old

Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old

Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old

Jean Carlos Nieves Rodríguez, 27 years old

Xavier Emmanuel Serrano-Rosado, 35 years old

Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24 years old

Yilmary Rodríguez Solivan, 24 years old

Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old

Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old

Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old

Jonathan A. Camuy Vega, 24 years old

Juan Pablo Rivera Velázquez, 37 years old

Luis Sergio Vielma, 22 years old

Franky Jimmy DeJesus Velázquez, 50 years old

Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old

Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old

Pride Month has arrived! While every day is a time to be proud of your identity and orientation, June is that extra special time for boldly celebrating with and for the LGBTQIA* community (yes, there are more than lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender in the queer community). June was chosen to honor the Stonewall Riots which happened in 1969. Like other celebratory months, LGBT Pride Month started as a weeklong series of events and expanded into a full month of festivities.

In honor of Pride Month, UCF Library faculty and staff suggested books, movies and music from the UCF collection that represent a wide array of queer authors and characters. Additional events at UCF in June include “UCF Remembers” which is a week-long series of events to commemorate the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in 2016.

Click on the link below to see the full list, descriptions, and catalog links for the 20 titles by or about people in the LGBTQIA community suggested by UCF Library employees. These, and additional titles, are also on the Featured Bookshelf display on the second (main) floor next to the bank of two elevators.

Featured Bookshelf: LGBTQIA Pride Month

*LGBTQIA represents lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex and asexual. The acronym is continually evolving, and the term queer is frequently used to be all inclusive and welcoming.

While every day is a time to celebrate your identity and orientation, June is a notable month set aside to loudly and proudly celebrate with and for the LGBTQIA community. Here at UCF Libraries we are loudly proud of everyone at UCF who identifies as part of the queer community. In recognition of and support for our LGBTQIA Knights, we are hosting a series of displays and events including a UCF Remembers display from the Pulse Collection, a featured bookshelf, three film screenings and discussions, and our new Speak Your Truth: A Queer History of UCF project.

 

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May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Visit the main (2nd) floor of John C. Hitt Library to view the winners of the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature and other books written by Asian Americans.

The Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (APAAL) is a set of literary awards presented annually by the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA).  Books on display include The Refugees and The Sympathizer: A Novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen, a recipient of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, I Hotel, 2010 National Book Award Finalist by Karen Tei Yamashita, The Making of Asian America: A History by Erica Lee, an award-winning American historian, Director of the Immigration History Research Center, and the Rudolph J. Vecoli Chair in Immigration History at the University of Minnesota and Black Bird Fly by Erin Entrada Kelly, winner of the prestigious Newberry Medal in 2017.

Location
John C. Hitt Library

Contact
Ven Basco
407-823-5048
Buenaventura.basco@ucf.edu