Take a break from the finals frenzy and join us at Recharge at Randall, a fun-filled event to help you unwind and recharge. We’ve got plenty of activities to help you relax, refocus, and take care of yourself. See you there!

May 4-6

Coffee & Snacks Station | 7 PM | Randall Hall | 1st Floor | Enjoy free drinks and snacks (while supplies last)! Sponsored by UNCW Library, Student Government Association (SGA), Academic Affairs, and Aramark. (While supplies last!)

May 5

De-stress Activities | 1-6 PM | Randall Hall & Discovery Hall | 1st Floor | Take part in fun activities, play games, win prizes, and try to win one of the Ultimate Study Break Gift Baskets!

Petting Pups with Paws4People | 2-4 PM | Randall Hall | 1st Floor | Relax and de-stress with adorable therapy dogs from Paws4People. Stop by, pet the pups, and let them help you relax!

Sweet Trolley | 2 PM and 4 PM | Look out for the Sweet Trolley! Grab snacks, motivational stickers, pencils, index cards, and more!

CANCELED Meditation Sessions |1:30 PM - 1:50 PM & 2:30 PM - 2:50 PM | Take a short break from finals stress with a calming guided visual meditation session designed to help you relax, refocus, and recharge your mind.

Sponsors | UNCW Library, Student Government Association (SGA), Academic Affairs, Aramark, Paws4People

Interested in advising the library on new direction and services?  UNCW Library is accepting student nominations for the Library Student Advisory Board, which will provide feedback on the library's strategic direction. The Board will meet no more than four times per year (twice per semester).

Nominate yourself or another by completing a nomination form.

For more information, see Advisory Board charge and membership or contact Lucy Holman at holmanl@uncw.edu and Julia Downing at downingj@uncw.edu

You're invited! Support our student writers and artists (while enjoying free food)!

Join us on Tuesday, April 15th, at 6:00 pm in the UNCW Library's Discovery Hall Event Space (DH1070) for a reading and reception in honor of the contest's winners, honorable mentions, and contributing artists. Copies of this year’s anthology will be available for free as well!

This year's winners and honorable mentions:

First: "Whispers in the Stacks" by Qiuhong Wei
Second: "Let Me Out" by Megan Eesley
Third: "Paper Cranes" by Miriam Schatz

Honorable Mentions:

"Afterimage" by Rhianna Beaupre
"What Lurks in the Depths" by Campbell Haynes
"Will it replace us—or set us free?" by Marius Hoffman
"Busy, Busy" by Charlie Kingree
"Discovery-ARC" by Logan Knowles
"The Consensus" by Thomas Koehler
"Daisies" by Da Ming Lau
"Power" by Adam Pridgen
"Alorah" by Isabela Rezende
"Archaic Practice" by Jonah Rinberg
"A Modern Love Story" by Issy Thompson
"Conscience or (Artificial) Intelligence" by Katelyn Walbourne

Illustrators: 

Nex Zuniga
Sofi Bardaxis
Andrea Boctot
Bella Cacciato
Brandon Huebner
Brooklyn Jackson
Connor Robertson
Diamond Wilson
Garrett Canaday
Henry Moore
Logan Beechner
Madelyn Frazier
Oliver Rice
Sarah Rhue

Learn more about the FlashLIT Writing Contest.

Get ready to unleash your creativity!

The highly anticipated FlashLIT Writing Contest 2025 starts now! This year's theme is Artificial Intelligence. The writing contest is open to all UNCW students. We invite writers of all genres to craft pieces of 500 words or less within two weeks.

The stakes are high, with cash prizes awarded to the top three winners:

• First Place: $200
• Second Place: $150
• Third Place: $100

Prizes will be applied to winners’ student accounts through the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. Winners and selected honorable mentions will also have their work published in an anthology.

Adding to the excitement, UNCW art students will create original artwork for all entries, making FlashLIT a vibrant collaboration between writers and artists across campus.

Don’t miss this chance to share your story, win prizes, and see your work published alongside stunning visuals.

FlashLIT Contest Rules

If any of these rules or formatting guidelines are not followed, your submission will be automatically disqualified.

• Must be a UNCW student, currently enrolled.
• 500 words or less.
• Must relate to the theme Artificial Intelligence.  Must mention UNCW Library.
• Submissions due by Friday, February 7th at 5:00 p.m. EST.
• One entry per student.

Formatting Guidelines

• Double spaced, 12 pt., Times New Roman, 1-inch margins on all sides.
• Use one tab to indicate every paragraph indent.
• Section breaks should be notated by (***).
• Turn off all auto-formatting features (such as automatic paragraph indenting, outlining, bullet points).
• Enter only one space after terminal punctuation. If you used two spaces, search/replace to update your file.
• For dashes, use em-dash character with no space on either side, or use two hyphens, and we’ll search and replace the em-dash during typesetting.
• For any special characters or glyphs, such as trademark symbols, accents, or irregular punctuation, please note them by highlighting them in yellow. If you'd like to include a special character or a glyph but you don't know how to set it, please submit a hard copy of your story with specific instructions for the placement and type of special character to be inserted.
• Files should be saved and submitted as follows: lastname_firstname.docx.
• Submit a .docx version of your submission via the form here.

NOTE: Edits and revisions will NOT be allowed after submissions, nor will the publisher have time to check your work.  Take care that your piece is fully edited and perfected before submitting.

Congratulations to the 2025 Anne Pemberton Student Research and Creativity Award Winner!

Vanessa Anzola is a UNCW senior. Her project partner, Joey Thomas, is a UNCW junior. "Denise the Film" is a visual exploration of anxiety from the point of view of a college student (Marley). The film emphasizes Marley’s growth by learning to cope with anxiety, mirroring real-life mental health journeys. According to Vanessa Nubia, "We selected our topic of anxiety from personal experience with the desire to raise awareness of mental health through art, as people cannot see how it affects the mind from who experiences it. Joey, one of the writers on the project, struggles with anxiety on a daily basis and as a technique to handle he names his anxiety Denise. We are using personal experiences from ourselves and our friends who struggle with anxiety to tell this story, as well as methods for controlling and managing anxiety from mental health counselors on campus that we corroborated with scholarly articles." Come see Vanessa at the CSURF Showcase in UNCW Library on April 26!

Gale Digital Scholar Lab is a digital scholarship tool that provides researchers, students, and instructors with a suite of tools to conduct text analysis on UNCW Library’s Gale Primary Sources databases. The platform offers a variety of features, including corpus building tools, data cleaning tools, as well as common algorithms that conduct text analysis, such as named-entity recognition and topic modeling. Gale Training and Engagement Specialist Becky Sowers will provide an overview of the tool and highlight features in the DSL that promote collaboration and proper research methodology.

Users will need to create an account before using the DSL. Start by clicking the orange Log In/Create Account button on the database homepage, then select Sign in with Microsoft to sign in with your UNCW credentials. First time users will need to accept the shown terms, create a display name, and select an avatar. Then you will enter your Personal Workspace.

It is suggested that attendees bring a laptop, but classroom laptops will be available to use during the session.

Zoom link: https://lib.uncw.edu/learning-labs-apr25

Seahawks Give is back and better than ever! From noon on April 8 to noon on April 9, UNCW’s 24-hour giving challenge is your chance to show your Seahawk spirit and support what matters most to you—including the UNCW Library!

When you give to the UNCW Library, you help us:  

• Grow Collections – Fund new books, journals, and expanded digital access.  
• Enhance Spaces – Improve study areas and upgrade tech-equipped learning environments.  
• Support Innovation – Invest in research tools, creative technologies, and maker resources.  
• Empower Students – Fund tutoring, academic support, and student success programs.

Want to support the library?  
Give directly to the UNCW Library at lib.uncw.edu/seahawks-give-library 

Be a part of something powerful. Help us make waves and create real change for students, faculty, and the entire Seahawk community.  
Let’s soar together—Go Seahawks!

For more information about Seahawks Give at uncw.edu/seahawksgive 

Seeking Credible North Carolina State Government information? Join us for a virtual session on Thursday, April 10th, from 3:00 – 4:00 PM, where you'll learn how to find and access official state government resources. This session will guide you through navigating state websites, locating key documents, and ensuring you’re using credible information for research, work, or personal use. Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your research skills and gain confidence in finding authoritative North Carolina state government information!

Zoom Link: https://uncw.zoom.us/j/87021602080?pwd=bXLtNAtTobEoFQ5wqjkWQiJzL67saD.1#success

Hugh Holland, an American photographer celebrated for his captivating images of skateboarders navigating the empty pools and concrete landscapes of Southern California, has passed away at the age of 82 on February 1, 2025. Holland’s work, which captured the raw energy of the mid-1970s skateboarding scene, remains a powerful testament to an era of the sport that was free from corporate influence and deeply entrenched in teenage counterculture.

Born in 1942 in Oklahoma, Holland’s interest in photography began in the mid-1960s while working in a college photo lab, despite having no formal training. His career took off in 1975 when, while working as an antiques finisher in West Hollywood, he discovered young skateboarders riding through the drainage ditches of Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Captivated by their fearless movements and the unique landscape they traversed, Holland began documenting this underground subculture, capturing moments that would define the essence of the skateboarding world.

Holland’s passion for documenting the scene lasted until 1978, when the increasing commercialization of skateboarding led him to lose interest in the sport’s evolving direction. However, his work continued to influence the art world, with his photography being featured in the 2011 Art in the Streets exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, which celebrated graffiti and street art.

Though his work was largely unknown during the height of the skateboarding boom, Holland’s photos have since become iconic representations of a pivotal moment in skateboarding history, immortalizing a unique time and place in the sport’s evolution.

Hugh Holland’s legacy as one of the definitive photographers of the 1970s skateboarding culture will continue to inspire generations of artists and enthusiasts alike. 

An exhibit of his photography is now available through Summer 2025 in the Sherman Hayes Gallery, Randall Hall, 1st Floor.

Dive into a variety of UNCW Library's ebook collections with Lead Cataloging Librarian Gary Moore. We’ll explore features of different ebook collections and strategies for searching and accessing ebook titles through the library catalog. Learn how to use and download ebooks to get the most out of the library’s collections for your teaching and research needs.

Event Date: Mar. 11, 2025, from 12 to 1 pm
Location: DH 2088 and on Zoom

Zoom URL: https://lib.uncw.edu/learning-labs-mar25 

UNCW faculty, staff, and administrators are encouraged to Save the Date for an important program on managing public records, scheduled for March 4th from 9:00 to 11:00 am in Discovery Hall at the UNCW Library.

This session will feature Adina Riggins, University Archivist, and Steve Miller, UNCW General Counsel, who will guide attendees through key information on best practices for managing public records. This informative program will cover vital aspects of recordkeeping, compliance, and the importance of maintaining proper documentation in accordance with university policies and state regulations.

Mark your calendars and join us for this valuable opportunity to learn more about public records management!

When: March 4, 9:00 – 11:00 am
Where: UNCW Library Discovery Hall
Speakers: Adina Riggins, University Archivist; Steve Miller, UNCW General Counsel

Register today! https://uncw.libcal.com/calendar/events/records