Starbucks Gift Card Drawing Winners
Library supporters provided Starbucks $25 gift cards to be drawn monthly. Users are asked to tell us why the UF Libraries are important to them. Enter now.
April 2012 winner: Amy Lobasso
The library is like an airport for my mind. In Jonathan Franzen’s speech at David Foster Wallace’s funeral he recounted how they agreed that “fiction was a way out of loneliness.” We tell stories to share with each other, to understand each other. We share these stories so that we feel less alone. At Thanksgiving I always think about how thankful I am that I have food, but I also think about how thankful I am about my literacy. I get food for my body AND food for my brain. Reading is such a valuable skill for me because it enables me to entirely independent and free. I can do anything I want because I can read about anything I want. What I love about the library is that it promotes all of these ideals. It is utterly amazing to me that I have access to the world’s best literature, from Proust to Sartre to Melville to Eugenides. I have access to the entire contemporary art world through the Architecture and Fine Arts library. Even though I am down here in Gainesville I can still make myself aware of everything that is going on in the world, and everything that has gone on in the world. When people get too boring for me, I always have the library.
February-March 2012 winner: Dina Lewis
The UF libraries are important to me because they have played a pivotal role in my success here at the University of Florida. As I am in my last graduating semester the familiarity of walking Library West’s aisles fill me with so much warmth and joy for learning. Simply put, the UF libraries have fostered that away from home encouragement. Having access to the UF libraries made me go that extra mile to watch my online statistics lectures, to make friends by creating a study group and instilling in me a sense of self and purpose as I continue on my studies at the University of Florida.
December 2011-January 2012 winner: Marian Maloney
The UF libraries are a sanctuary of knowledge on a diverse, ever-changing campus. While they constantly update their technology and add services for students, the libraries still hold the traditional books that created the foundation for our education. Whether studying with friends for a final, researching for a paper, or simply reading for recreation, the UF libraries hold treasures for students of all majors. I have spent half of my undergraduate career either on the fourth floor (a quiet floor) of Library West reading Dante or in the Starbucks (a not-quiet floor) drinking coffee and playing on my Kindle. It became my home on campus, and I will sorely miss my library once I have graduated.
November 2011 winner: Kem Chatfield Jr.
UF Libraries are my home away from home. Coming from Miami, I had a hard time adjusting to life away from home. Most of the time, I felt alone and scared. What made my experience worse was the fact that I struggled in most of my classes. While I loved reading and writing, I noticed that UF demanded more from me. Many of my classmates seemed extremely prepared for college reading and writing, but I didn’t feel the same way. Then I decided to visit Library West. The librarians and research assistants were so helpful and taught me several research strategies that I still use today. Also, they exposed me to several resources on campus. At my high school, I only used one library. At UF, however, there were several libraries that I could use at any time. Plus, there were numerous audio and visual materials that I could use for schoolwork or pleasure. I love watching documentaries for pleasure, so I was extremely excited to see the plethora of documentaries that were stored in every library. Due to the help of UF Libraries, my grades increased dramatically. Now, I visit UF libraries for academic work and pleasure. From Library West to the Education Library to the Fine Arts Library, every library means a lot to me. As a Preview Staffer during Summer 2011, I encouraged all of my students to visit the libraries on campus because it makes a positive impact on their lives and grades. Now, as a 4th year student, I will miss every library on campus. I’ve been to libraries at numerous universities, but none can match UF’s library system. To everyone involved in the construction and development of UF libraries, thank you for changing my life and helping me throughout all of my trials and tribulations.
October 2011 winner: McKenna Smith
I didn’t visit the library for the first month that I attended UF mostly out of fear. I was afraid people would know I was a freshman and judge me if I went to the wrong place or did the wrong thing. I finally sucked it up and went to study one time and absolutely loved it! It was a quiet place to get my studying done. I love picking a chair that overlooks University Avenue and spreading out my stuff with a cup of Starbucks in my hand. It makes studying less miserable!
September 2011 winner: Kristopher Woods
UF Libraries can be considered an oasis in the vast, hectic filled campus on any day of the week. Its a place where students can get some peace and quiet as they prepare for the day ahead of them. It doesn’t matter if the student is a Freshman trying to pass Chem 1, a Junior attempting to stay afloat in his classes (like me),or it it’s the Graduate student who is working on his graduate thesis, the library is the place for all. For me, the library is not just a place to study. I often find myself grabbing an iced coffee in the middle of the day between classes, or when the merciless Florida sun slowly eats away at my skin I know I can always take a break at one of the Libraries, knowing that I will always be greeted with a blast of cold air and a smile from someone behind the desk. But for those days when my homework load seems all but bearable, I can count on finding a comfy chair by a window at the library where I can relax and polish off my work.
August 2011 winner: Deborah Truex
Libraries are important for me because they are a quiet haven, a place that is essential to me as the semester progresses. Amidst the traffic in Turlington, the chaos of classes, and delirium in my dorm, the libraries are a place I can turn to when I need a quiet chair to do differential equations in, or just need a place to sit and think. Whether it is in the morning before class, squeezed in between a lab and Physics, or at the end of the day before I head back to my dorm to go to sleep, the library is always there to give me a place to sit back, relax, and go to get some work done too.
Summer 2011 winner: Amira elBehiri
The library is very important to me because it provides a quiet, comfortable place to study. I don’t even study at home, because I’m always here. I love how much lighting there is in here during the day time. And sometimes during study breaks I enjoy just browsing through all the books and microfilms. I also love how when I didn’t have a laptop, I could come here and use the computers. Additionally, when I would be studying in a group, I could easily reserve a group room online, and have additional privacy while studying. I also like how I see everyone I know when I’m at the library, it’s like a social event. I LOVE THE UF LIBRARIES! Particularly West which is where I happen to be right now… on the first day of classes 
April 2011 winner: Elizabeth Mirabal
The UF Libraries are crucial in providing a wealth of media and other resources at my disposal. As a fine arts student, I am always seeking inspiration for artwork, and the well stocked book shelves at the Architecture and Fine Arts library always deliver the inspiration and ideas that I seek. Other wonderful things about the AFA and other libraries is the new gadgets available to check out; I have frequently taken advantage of the new mini projectors and flip cameras available for use in my projects. The libraries have definitely come through in aiding my success here at UF with the books and media they put at my disposal.
March 2011 winner: Paige Parrinelli
It’s just another day in the life of an ordinary college student. I enter Library West, instantly hit by the smell of books and coffee, and make my way up the escalator, eager to find a quiet study spot so I can prepare for that one exam I know I’m going to be cramming all night for. I walk past the checkout counter, and soon find myself within a maze of moving bookshelves, and there’s a sense of mystery and magic that makes me feel like I’ve stepped into a fantasy novel. However, very much unlike a fantasy novel, the first things I see on the shelves are rows upon rows of DVDs.
I pause, in spite of myself, to read the titles. No matter how many times I walk by the DVD section I can’t help but feel amused by the variety available at the UF libraries. Everything from old time movies, to modern TV series, and even children’s cartoons can be found here. There are also foreign movies, with titles I can’t even guess the language of. Just this part of the library alone could take hours to investigate properly, but I know I still have work to do.
I finally get a hold of myself and continue my search for the perfect study spot. I walk slowly, catching the titles of books as I walk past the shelves: Vindication of the Rights of Women, Jane Austen’s Politics, Youth Cultures, Performing Shakespeare in Japan…almost anything that I can imagine has a place on those shelves. Once again, I’m unable to help myself. Before I know what’s even happening, an hour has already passed and all I’ve done in that span of time is look at books. I should feel awful, after all, I have an exam to study for, but I don’t. Because, in that one hour, I’ve done what many fail to do throughout the course of their entire educational careers: I’ve enjoyed learning.
That is what the UF libraries mean to me. They represent the true college educational experience. Not the painful experience of stuffing your head full of facts for a test, only to forget them all the next day, but the experience of actually wanting to learn. It’s the desire to explore the worlds hidden between book pages, and to see those worlds through the eyes of a movie camera lens. Thanks to the UF libraries, I am able to get the fullest education possible, by being able to take a break to learn about the things that truly interest me.
February 2011 winner: Michelle Harris
The UF Libraries are essential to me since they provide resources and access to scholarly discourse in my field. I have spent countless hours searching through articles and databases that are compiled by the Libraries, and I have benefitted greatly from the specialized librarians that have pointed me to the Libraries’ research page dedicated to my area of study. As a senior about to graduate, I realized how much I relied on the Libraries’ resources to connect me to my discipline as a scholar and student, and I was ecstatic to learn that I was accepted to my graduate program at UF and will have access to the Libraries and resources for at least two more years!
January 2011 winner: Angela Truex
“Without a doubt, the libraries are my favorite place on the UF campus. They are more than just a blast of refreshing cool air in the summer or cozy heat in the winter, more than a shelter from the wind and rain or a comfy spot for a mid-morning nap, although they have served these purposes for most of us at one time or another. When I look back on my experience at the University of Florida many years from now, I will see the libraries. The libraries are where I meet with friends to work on projects, laughing and whispering around a table on the first floor. They are where I study for my exams late into the night with endless cups of coffee, and where I put the finishing touches on what I’m sure is my best paper yet. Whether it’s for research or pleasure reading, there’s nothing I love more than wandering through the shelves, gathering an ever-growing stack of books in my arms until I’m convinced I can’t carry any more, only to add one last book that I simply can’t do without. And when I curl up in a chair by the window with my books piled around me, it feels like everything is right with the world.”