This spring semester will mark completion of the first phase of an expansion that will help transform UCF’s oldest building, the John C. Hitt Library, into a 21st-century library.

“The emphasis is on benefit to students,” says Frank Allen, the library’s senior associate director for administrative services who has overseen the transformation of the building since the project started in 2016. “For years we have been putting a plan together to create more collaborative and quieter spaces for our students, and now we are finally able to show them what we have been working on.”

This renovation marks the first major overhaul to the library since 1984.

Since the campus’ opening in 1968, the library has been a popular spot for students to gather, and the new renovations aim to capitalize on that by adding 1,055 new seats. The majority of these new seats will have power stations at arm’s reach to keep laptops, smartphones and tablets charged.

From the start, the library has been a place for students to come together. (Photo courtesy of UCF Special Collections and University Archives)

“Students wanted more group study rooms and quiet rooms, but mainly spaces where they could come and work together,” says Director of Libraries Barry Baker. “We do what we do for the students, and we want them to continue to give us input.”

Here are some of the features of the new and improved John C Hitt Library.

New circulation desk located at the north entrance of the library (Photo by Nick Leyva ’15)

The circulation desk serves as a resource for students who have general inquiries about the library, and to check out materials including reserve items. The main circulation services desk will move to the new north entrance. The library’s “LibTech desk,” currently on the third floor, will move to the existing circulation desk on second floor, at the “legacy entrance,” which faces the Reflecting Pond. This will provide more exposure for this busy desk, which loans out over 135,000 technology-related items per year.

Robotic crane delivering books to the pick-up location of the ARC (Photo by Nick Leyva ’15)

The Automated Retrieval Center (ARC), which opened in 2018, will be capable of holding up to 1.25 million volumes of the library’s print collection, placed in bins inside racks three stories high, with retrieval by robotic cranes. Currently there are about 550,000 volumes in the ARC. Placing the volumes in the ARC opens up more “stack” space to create areas for students to study and work together.

“The idea is to repurpose space, and to ease the task of navigating through stacks looking for a book,” Allen says. “Now, books can be requested with the click of a button on an electronic device, and each volume will be available for pick up at the circulation desk within 10 minutes.”

Reading room and 270-degree view overlooking the Student Union and John T. Washington Center (Photo by Nick Leyva ’15)

The fourth floor reading room, located on top of the ARC, will feature a 270-degree view of campus and 235 news seats in a “low-conversation area,” offering a great vantage point overlooking the Student Union and expanded outdoor plaza.

Although the gallery walls are bare now, soon they will feature special exhibits. (Photo by Nick Leyva ’15)

The fourth floor features a new special collections gallery space, which will display a variety of library-owned art, rare collection materials and archival documents.

Fourth floor reading room bookcases will hold UCF author publications available for checkout. Glass enclosed cases interspersed in the room will display Special Collections materials and objects. (Photo by Nick Leyva ’15)

With the renovations, the library aims to become LEED certified, a building designation that recognizes sustainability. Liberal use of reclaimed cypress wood (pictured here) pays homage to Florida’s native cypress trees.

(Photo by Nick Leyva ’15)

The library will also feature a new multipurpose room with seating capacity for 120 to host lectures and library-related events.

More classroom and study spaces will be incorporated into the library.

The first floor will feature two new instruction rooms — including an active learning classroom that features a collaborative, technology-rich learning environment. And in response to student requests for more individual and group study spaces, there will also be eight new group study rooms. Students will be able to reserve times via the library website and on-location reservation devices.

Students can walk all the way to the top of the library using school-spirited black and gold stairs.

(Photo by Nick Leyva ’15)

The designers made the stairwells more visible and open to increase use and safety. “The idea is to have active design, so the elevators and stairs are positioned so that students prefer to use the stairs,” says Baker.

The fourth-floor designated quiet zone includes additional outlets where students can charge their devices. (Photo by Nick Leyva ’15)

“This project is something that has been in development for years, based on UCF student feedback, successful practices in other libraries, and forward thinking. People will see sharp differences between old and new spaces, which will motivate us to continue the work we have started,” Allen says.

This new space represents the start of a complete renovation of the entire library building, which will most likely occur floor by floor, with one or two floors renovated at a time. This renovation will also include new air conditioning, lighting, plumbing and electrical systems. As existing floors are renovated, more books will be added into the ARC and shelving then removed to free up space for additional student seating. Renovating one floor at a time will also have the benefit of limiting construction to only a set amount of area at a time, thus minimizing disruption to students and visitors in this very busy library.