News & Blog

For two decades, UCF Libraries Special Collections & University Archives has celebrated creativity, innovation, and artistic expression through its annual Student Book Arts Competition. Established by former Special Collections Head Ellen Anderson, the competition invites UCF students to push the boundaries of the book form by creating original, one-of-a-kind artist’s books.

But what exactly is an artist’s book? More than a book in the traditional sense, an artist’s book is a work of art in its own right—a handcrafted creation that embodies the maker’s unique vision. These works blend a variety of artistic practices, including storytelling, drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, and personal text, transforming the a traditional book into an engaging and often unexpected artistic experience.

This year’s exhibition showcases an inspiring range of formats, concepts, and techniques, highlighting the remarkable creativity and talent of UCF students. From innovative structures to compelling narratives and striking visual designs, each piece reflects the vibrant spirit of book arts fostered by Special Collections & University Archives.

All submissions are carefully evaluated by a panel of judges on the basis of content, creativity, design, and craftsmanship. The winning artist’s book will be announced later this month, celebrating excellence in this dynamic and evolving art form.

The exhibit runs from June 1 – 30, 2026 at the John C. Hitt Library 4th Floor Gallery.

To look more in depth at past competitions go to: stars.library.ucf.edu/bookartscompetition

The UCF Libraries is sponsoring their second “Love your Libraries” sticker contest! UCF Students are invited to submit original design entries no larger than 4” x 3”. Entries should be submitted as an image file (TIFF,JPEG, BMP, PNG, or GIF format).

The library will select one winning design that reflects the library to print and distribute during Finals Week (April 24 30, 2024). A winner will be announced through library social media and digital signs in the library. The winner will receive 25 printed stickers and an LED light displaying their design!

Contest rules:

• The contest is for UCF students only.
• One entry per student.
• If more than one entry is submitted by a student, all the entries by that person will be disqualified from the contest.
• Judges reserve the right to not select a winner due to limited submissions or lack of exceptional submissions.
• Entries with explicit content will not be considered for this contest.
• Images may be subject to approval by UCF Marketing.

Deadline to submit is March 29th at 5pm!

Submit at https://stars.library.ucf.edu/stickercontest/.

It is time to get creative! The UCF Libraries is sponsoring a “Love your Libraries” sticker contest! UCF Students are invited to submit original design entries no larger than 4” x 3”. The contest closes on March 31st at 5PM.

The library will select one winning design that reflects the library to print and distribute during Finals Week (April 25 – May 2, 2023). A winner will be announced through library social media and digital signs in the library. The winner will receive 25 printed stickers and an LED light displaying their design!

Full contest rules and the submission form are available at https://stars.library.ucf.edu/stickercontest

All 5 challenges of the Spring 2021 Minimizing Misinformation series are ready for you to flex your muscles and test your information fluency skills.

Remember the more challenges you complete, the more prizes you win!

Prizes:
1 challenge = Coveted UCF Libraries Sticker pack
3 challenges = UCF Libraries duckie Temporary Tattoo
5 challenges = Grand prize pack!

• Challenge #1 – Lateral Reading
  Test your lateral reading skills
• Challenge #2 – Identifying Bias
  Test your ability to define and recognize bias in sources.
• Challenge #3 – Evaluating Images
  Test your ability to identify manipulated images!
• Challenge # 4 – Identifying Misleading Graphics
  Test your ability to evaluate charts and infographics! Complete the following challenge to progress on the path to being a savvy information evaluator.
• Challenge #5 – Evaluating News Sources
  Test your ability to evaluate news sources.

Open to UCF students, faculty and staff!

Congratulations to our 2019 Poetry Contest winners!

They each received a #UCFLibrary water bottle and their work as been added to the KnightVerse, the student writing contest section of UCF Libraries’ digital repository, STARS.

Haiku winner:
“Fountain Finals” by Tim Walker

Sonnet winner:
“Together Apart” by Abel Birchfield