News & Blog

UCF Libraries wants to see your design skills! Will you accept our design challenge?

Select one of the titles below and illustrate the cover for that book. The submission deadline is Sunday, July 26, 2020 at 11:59PM.

• Knightro and the Strange, Scary Pandemic Semester
• Knugget Takes a Vacation
• The Golden Vulture Strikes Again

For full contest rules and to submit your illustration, check out the contest page.

• Contests 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 sexual content will not be considered for this contest.

The winner will be announced on Monday, August 3, 2020. Prizes include a #UCFLibraries water bottle and a limited edition Quiet Space Rubber Duckie.

Are you looking for something fun to take your mind off everything that’s happening in the world right now? Have you thought about writing poetry?

The UCF Libraries 2020 Poetry Contests are now open for submissions. Try your hand at crafting a charming haiku or a slick limerick all from the comfort of your room.

Haiku deadline is April 12 at 11:59 pm
Limerick deadline is April 19 at 11:59 pm

Full contest details and submission form at https://ucflib.fyi/npm

Thank you to all the students who submitted stories for the 3rd Annual Knight Terror short story contest! They were fantastically creepy (and we’re all scared of the 1st floor now).

1st place winner receiving a Libraries coffee mug and construction ducky is Lindsey Wright with Laughing in the Face of Death.

2nd place winner receiving a UCF Libraries water bottle and Pegasus sticker is Carissa Barton with Tea Party.

Congratulations to both Lindsey and Carissa!

Special thanks to our judges: Amy Dovydaitis (CMC), Seth Dwyer (Circulation), Emma Gisclair (CMC), and Jada Reyes (Libraries Student Ambassador)

What terrors lurk in the heart of humanity? What scary thoughts skulk in the corners of your mind? What dark and spooky words will cross your page?

Can you creep out UCF Libraries staff with a scary story set in one of the UCF Library buildings?

Submit your scary story for the annual Knight Terror Library writing contest by 11:59 pm on October 27, 2019 to see if you can cause the best fright.

• Contest for UCF students only.
• One entry per student.
• 500 words or less.
• Story must be set in one of the UCF Library buildings (John C. Hitt Library, Curriculum Materials Center, Rosen Library, Downtown Library, or one of the Connect campus libraries).
• Stories with explicit sexual content will not be considered for this contest.

Submit your scary short story here

Winners will be announced on October 31, and be immortalized in STARS KnightVerse. First place wins a Libraries coffee mug and construction ducky. Second place wins a UCF Libraries water bottle and Pegasus sticker.

Judges reserve the right to not select a winner due to limited submissions, or lack of exceptional submissions.

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

Poetry Contests!

Haiku by You – Submissions due by April 7, 2019 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.

#LibraryLove – Submissions due by April 14, 2019 at 11:59 pm. 
Poem of any style or length. What do you love about libraries?

Sonnets – Submissions due by April 21, 2019 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.

Submit your poems here.

Contests are open to UCF students only.

One entry per student per contest. If more than one entry is submitted by a student per contest, all the entries by that person will be disqualified from that contest.

Judges reserve the right to not select a winner due to limited submissions, or lack of exceptional submissions.

Stories with explicit sexual content will not be considered for this contest.

Erasure Poetry

An Erasure Poetry table will be set up between the Circulation Desk and Reference Desk from April 1 – 5. Staff favorites will be displayed on the windows by the entrance and on library social media accounts.

Book Spine Poetry

Celebrate your #LibraryLove with Book Spine Poetry. Use books to craft a short poem. Share it to Facebook or Instagram tagging @ucflibrary #librarylove during the National Library Week (April 8 – 12). Both the staff favorite and the one with the most likes will get a #UCFLibrary waterbottle.