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9/11/26 - The new academic year has started at Florida Tech and students are flooding into the library. And that means that our dedicated librarians are hard at work helping these students get acclimated to Florida Tech and ready to dive in to research!
Even before incoming students arrive on campus, they are assigned to their own Personal Librarian based upon their major. Personal Librarians reach out to each and every student, introducing themselves and informing students about the many resources available to them as new Panthers! And just in case they missed the email, our librarians make sure to get out there and meet our incoming students in person.
Little did the librarians know that the swag we were handing out would spark a trend among the students: collecting signed copies of the Personal Librarian cards! The Engineering and Science Librarian Bill was especially popular, perhaps due to his “personality” shining through on his card, resulting in many students coming to him for his autograph.
Of course, students were not done with the library and its librarians just because classes started! The First-Year Experience (FYE) library Seek and Find activity is fast becoming a Florida Tech tradition as freshmen swarm the library, eager to learn more about the library and cover their worksheets with colorful stamps.
In addition to our Personal Librarian program and other services for undergraduate students, our librarians expanded upon last year's successful graduate student workshop series and collaborated with the Office of Graduate Programs to put on a day-long orientation for graduate students. Florida Tech’s newest scholars were treated to presentations covering everything from a general overview of Florida Tech’s services and support for grad students to an in-depth discussion of how to find and evaluate potential places to publish the exceptional research that they will produce as student scholars.
Of course, the core of librarianship has always been research consultations and assistance. And if there is one thing that Florida Tech’s student scholars are known for, it is their enthusiasm and passion. In the first couple of weeks of the Fall semester alone, students have made dozens of appointments with their librarians, with topics ranging from psychology, to aviation, to aerospace engineering (because at Florida Tech, yes, it really is rocket science, and we are here for it!). In addition to formal appointments, the librarians have answered hundreds of questions since the students have returned. Our unofficial motto is, after all, Just Ask!
