News & Blog

“I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely…”

Yes, I’m going Joyce Kilmer on you. It’s National Poetry Month. How could I not start with the opening of a poem we all learn in primary school?

The Academy of American Poets, inspired by the success of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, created National Poetry Month in 1996. It is the largest literary celebration in the world and UCF Library is proud to do our part.

We gathered suggestions for 20 books of poetry that are currently in the UCF collection. These works represent a wide range of favorite poetry books of our faculty and staff. Click on the link below to see the full descriptions and catalog links.

Featured Bookshelf: National Poetry Month

Women’s History Month began as a week-long celebration by in Sonoma, California in 1978 which was centered around International Women’s Day on March 8. A year later during a women’s history conference at Sarah Lawrence College, participants learned how successful the week was and decided to initiate similar in their own areas. President Carter issued the first proclamation for a national Women’s History Week in 1980. In 1987, Congress (after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project) passed Pub. L. 100-9 designating March as Women’s History Month. U.S. Presidents have issued proclamations on Women’s History Month since 1988.

Here at the UCF Libraries, we have created a list of suggested, and favorite, books about women’s history in both fact and fiction. Please click on the link below to see the full list with descriptions and catalog links.

Featured Bookshelf: Women’s History Month

For information about the bevy of Women’s History Month events at UCF, visit Office of Diversity and Inclusion Women’s History Month site.

The national celebration of African American History was started by Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard-trained historian and the founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, and first celebrated as a weeklong event in February of 1926. After a half century of overwhelming popularity, the event was expanded to a full month in 1976 by President Gerald Ford.

Here at the library we are passionate about celebrating African American culture and history (no seriously, I got a massive amount of emails with suggestions). We are proud to present our top 22 favorite books by, and/or about, African Americans, plus two streaming films.

Click the link below for full descriptions and catalog links.

UCF Libraries Bookshelf: Black History Month

For the month of January, the UCF Libraries Bookshelf is celebrating books which help you make and keep (and sometimes ignore) resolutions. These are our faculty and staff choices for starting the new year off in the best ways possible.

UCF Libraries Bookshelf: Resolutions

For the month of December, the UCF Libraries Bookshelf is celebrating the favorite books and series of the employees of the UCF Libraries. These are the books we have (and will continue to) read many times over the course of our lives. They cross genres from mystery, science fiction, young adult and memoirs. These are our well-loved books and we are thrilled to share them with you.

UCF Libraries Bookshelf: Staff Favorites