Library Blog & Events

Weeding the Collection

Spring and summer are a time for working in the yard, putting new trees and plants in the yard and keeping the grass and weeds under control. In Florida, that might mean mowing twice a week to keep the yard tidy and manageable. Likewise, the Library takes advantage of the slower pace of summer to do its own tidying and managing of Library collections.  Like weeding our yard and gardens, libraries typically weed their collection - formally known as deaccessioning - every several years. Without constant curation, the shelves of print materials can grow unwieldy, overgrown, and outdated. 

The primary goal of the Library's collection, whether print or electronic, is to support the teaching, learning, and scholarship of campus stakeholders. Librarians utilize their expertise in subject areas to determine which materials are still relevant to the university's current programs, majors, and minors and faculty's research areas. Course offerings change; technology advances and scientific discoveries occur every day meaning information does have an expiration date.

Spring 2026 Finals Week in Evans Library

Finals week is the busiest week for the library as students study and finish end of the semester projects. Spring 2026 finals week was no exception; in fact, it was record breaking. Beginning Friday, May 1, the library implemented extended hours, remaining open until midnight on Friday and Saturday and operating continuously from Sunday through Friday, May 8 at 5:00 p.m. During that week the library welcomed10,958 visitors - the highest weekly attendance on record and a 40.6% increase over a typical week during the semester. The nearly 11,000 students who used the library found a supportive and welcoming environment designed to meet a variety of needs, including stress-relief activities, quiet study, collaborative work, opportunities for rest and relaxation between exams, and access to nutritional and caffeinated sustenance early-morning through late-night hours.

The Evans Library works hard to support Florida Tech students. You can read more about how the library promotes academic success and holistic wellness.

The Point from which Everything Goes Out: A Conversation with Sam Miles

Samantha Miles is the Executive Director of Vertex, the Applied Innovation Hub at Florida Tech. Before coming to Florida Tech, Sam worked in higher ed in Australia and then moved with her husband to Dubai where she worked as a strategic advisor and consultant. She eventually felt homesick and moved back to Melbourne where she was born. She actively pursued her current role at Florida Tech since it aligned so well with her career.

What is Vertex?
Vertex was previously known as CAMID (Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovative Design), which was primarily known as a composites lab. The center was rebranded to expand its vision to becoming a national applied innovation center. The name "Vertex" was chosen because, on a parabola, the vertex is the starting point from which everything goes outward toward infinity. Vertex officially launched about a year ago and operates out of a 100,000 square-foot facility. It focuses on three core areas

• Research & Development: The facility offers advanced technology like 3D printing, digital engineering, an indoor drone arena hooked up to motion-tracking cameras, and an industry-facing composites lab.
• Workforce Development: They provide micro-credentialed short courses tailored to the specific needs of industry partners.
• Business Acceleration: Vertex provides medium and large companies with access to prototyping technology and a designated operational space to help them grow to the next level.

One of its most prominent partners is Larsen Motorsports, who when they are not building and racing jet dragsters (0-160mph in 4 seconds), test and recommission jet engines on site.

Student Involvement
Vertex heavily focuses on the student talent pipeline. They currently employ around 20 students working as lab assistants or interning with resident businesses, allowing the students to gain direct hands-on industry experience.

Listen to the whole interview below.

Other People are Human: Using Dale Carnegie to Engage in Civil Discourse

On Wednesday 18 March, the Evans Library held its second of two programs on Dale Carnegie's classic book How to Win Friends and Influence People. You can read about our first program Communicating to Win here. The library partnered with SGA who purchased over 100 copies of the book to distribute to Florida Tech students, who took them all in only a few days. In addition, the Evans Library organized two panel discussions on the book's principles. The second of which How to Influence People through Civil Argumentation featured Dr. Andrew Aberdein, Professor of Philosophy and Chair of Humanities Programs at Florida Tech; Dr. Marshall Jones, former law enforcement officer and Director of the Center for Applied Criminal Case Analysis at Florida Tech; and  Dr. Nikki Souris Associate Professor of Law & Society and Pre-Law Advisor in the School of Arts & Communications. The panel discussed using Carnegie's principles to engage in civil discourse with others, especially those with whom we disagree.

The first issue the panel had to tackle was how did our society become so polarized in the first place. This is not a question with an easy answer. As the panelists explained, students today have never lived in a non-polarized time. The kind of uncivil, polarizing discourse in which they engage is what has always been modeled for them. Politicians and those who seek our time and attention, often engage in over-the-top rhetoric and divide-and-conquer tactics, making the "other side" out to be first-rate villains. As a result, this generation of students sees your arguments and where you stand on issues as a demonstration of your moral character.

Further, too many people out there want to tell us what our opinions should be, and we are often too cognitively lazy to figure out what we think.

Simple and Timeless: Using Dale Carnegie's Principles to Meet New People

Campus reads, where an entire college campus reads a book, giving students, faculty, and staff a common starting point for conversations, group discussions, and even classroom lectures, and popular right now on college campuses across America. (Public libraries have also facilitated community reads for their patrons and local community for much the same reasons.) The Evans Library was curious as to how well a campus read would succeed at Florida Tech, so decided to pilot one in the spring semester. The first question in a campus read is always what book to read. To answer that question, the library asked how do we want students to benefit? Two of the biggest issues college students across the country currently face is a lack of friends and an difficulty discussing issues with someone with whom they disagree. In thinking about what book could help people improve their communication skills to both meet new people and engage in civil disagreement, one book rose to the top of the list: How to Win Friends and Influence People. Dale Carnegie's classic was published in 1936, and in the 90 years since it has sold over 30 million copies to become one of the best selling books of all time. 

The library partnered with SGA who purchased over 100 copies of the book to distribute to Florida Tech students, and they were all taken by students within a few days. In addition, the Evans Library organized two panel discussions on the book's principles. The first of which Communicating to Win was held on February 25th in the Evans Library DSL and consisted of Heidi Hatfield Edwards, Associate Dean of the College of Psychology and Liberal Arts; Tim Muth, Faculty in the Bisk College of Business; and Kathryn Rudloff, Executive Director of weVENTURE Women's Business Center. The panel discussed using Carnegie's principles to meet new people, personally and professionally, and improve their communication skills all-around.

Where High Achievers Thrive: Academic Success & the Evans Library

It’s no secret that the library helps students succeed by providing them with the resources, assistance, and spaces they need to complete their research projects and class assignments, but that is far from the only thing we do to support academic excellence. Evans Library has always been devoted to helping our students at every stage of their academic journey.