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LIBRARY conference
Florida Association of College & Research Libraries (FACRL)
2025 Florida Association of College & Research Libraries
(FACRL) Virtual Conference
October 24, 2025
From Stress to Success:
The Academic Library as a Hub for Student Well-Being
Jason Anfinsen (University of Wisconsin, La Crosse), Jasmine George (University of Central Florida), Jasmine Simmons (University of Florida), Sarah J. Hammill (Florida International University), Leah Plocharczyk (Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter), & Nicole Sotak (Seminole State College of Florida)
2025 FACRL VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
2025 FACRL VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
In today’s evolving higher education landscape, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gen Z students are actively seeking opportunities to connect with peers and feel a sense of belonging. Spending their formative years defined by lockdowns, virtual learning, and prolonged periods of social isolation, many Gen Z students arrive on campus with heightened needs for emotional and social connection. Academic librarians are uniquely positioned to support student well-being by creating spaces and programming that foster emotional, social, and personal growth within their libraries.
This presentation will begin with a brief description of Gen Z students and the challenges that have shaped their educational and personal experiences. It will then highlight the work of six academic librarians from State College and University libraries who have responded to their students’ needs by reimagining engagement activities and events through creative, inclusive, and low-cost initiatives that contribute meaningfully to students’ holistic well-being.
From “stress less” activities (e.g., pop up crafts, snack breaks, and guided meditation) to engaging meet-and-mingle events, these programs demonstrate how libraries are promoting a broader culture of care on campus. Presenters will share key takeaways, challenges, and lessons learned that illustrate the evolving and responsive role of academic libraries in promoting campus wellbeing. Join this presentation to discover how academic libraries can serve as dynamic, student-centered hubs for connection, care, and community.
2025 FACRL VIRTUAL CONFERENCE CREW
2025 FACRL VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
FACRL 2025 VIRTUAl CONFERENCE
Presenting at the 2025 Florida Association of College & Research Libraries (FACRL) Virtual Conference on From Stress to Success: The Academic Library as a Hub for Student Wellbeing with librarians from Florida International University, University of Central Florida, Florida Atlantic University, University of Florida, and Seminole State College of Florida, on October 24, 2025.
Jason Anfinsen (University of Wisconsin, La Crosse), Jasmine George (University of Central Florida), Jasmine Simmons (University of Florida), Sarah J. Hammill (Florida International University), Leah Plocharczyk (Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter), & Nicole Sotak (Seminole State College)
new appointment
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
AUGUST 2025
I am excited to share that I have accepted a new appointment. Beginning in the fall 2025 academic semester, I will be the new Student Engagement & Outreach Librarian at the assistant professor rank in Murphy Library @ UWL.
published
Valuing the Community College Library: Impactful Practices for Institutional Success
Book nerd alert. My first academic book chapter has been published!
Valuing the Community College Library: Impactful Practices for Institutional Success (Eds. Jacobson & Brayton) is now available.
Brief book description - "Sharing the work of our community college libraries—our efforts, stories, and how we’re advancing the institution—and advocating to our peers and administration can boost the libraries’ role on our unique campuses."
Chapter 1.
Nightbrary: A Noisy Approach to Library Programming, College Outreach, and Student Engagement was co-written with Seminole State College library director, Morgan Tracy.
https://tinyurl.com/valuing-book
https://tinyurl.com/valuing-ebook
nightbrary
2025 CONFERENCES
Build Your Brary Bootcamp
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A Virtual Student Engagement Bootcamp for Every Library Setting
The librarians at Seminole State College Libraries are ready to shake up your library programming! Build Your Brary: Bootcamp is your all-access pass to a fun, creative, and idea-packed virtual experience! Inspired by the imaginative vibes of Lunchbrary and Nightbrary, this event will have you dreaming up fresh ways to connect with students—through games, art, music, and more.
You’ll leave with new ideas, new energy, and a program you can run with!
FLA CONFERENCE X STUDENT ENGAGEGEMENT
Loved presenting on Student Engagement at the Florida Library Association 2025 Annual Pre-Conference. It was my first time collaborating and presenting with colleagues from university libraries, so thank you for the memorable experience. So many great engagement initiatives! Amazing audience. Great group.
florida library association annual conference 2025
Presenting with a panel of academic librarian colleagues from Florida State College and University libraries on student engagement in the academic library at the Florida Library Association (FLA) pre-conference session on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.
This 3-hour panel discussion and break-out experiential learning session is a pre-conference workshop event .
Academic Librarian Speakers:
Sarah Hammill, FIU
Jason Anfinsen, SSC
Nicole Sotak, SSC
Jasmine George, UCF
Jasmine Simmons, UF
Leah Plocharczyk, FAU
17th Annual Academic Excellence Symposium
Excellent professional development experience!
Attended the 17th Annual Academic Excellence Symposium @ Daytona State College and supported two librarian colleagues, Nicole Sotak and Elena Soltau (and Biology Professor Simone Nelson), who presented on emerging technologies in library instruction & a.i. in higher education, respectively.
Southern Regional Honors Council (SRHC) conference
Traveled as a faculty chaperone with students from the Grindle Honors Institute at Seminole State to the Southern Regional Honors Council (SRHC) in Chattanooga, Tennessee, March 27-29.
The Florida Online Innovation Summit
Attended the 2025 Florida Online Innovation Summit and had a fantastic day of learning and hanging with colleagues from Seminole State.
Recording Available on YouTube
Build Your Brary
THANK YOU to the more than seventeen trillion* (*Inaccurate Estimate) library colleagues from colleges and universities across the country [100+ registered, 60+ attended] who tuned in to experience the online Build Your Brary student engagement bootcamp.
2025 SERVICE
Campus READ-Aloud
Participated in Seminole State's Campus READ-Aloud event.
Spring 2025 Campus READ book =
The Midnight Library
by author Matt Haig.
Live streamed a reading of
pages 160-184.
Access the video on the
CLUB OF YEAR = chess club
Congratulations to the Chess Club @ Seminole State College of Florida!
Club of the Year at the Sanford/Lake Mary (SLM) campus for 2024-2025.
DJ, Sam, Quinn, and Dani collected the prize at the annual Student Life Awards on April 16, 2025.
Students from the SLM Library formed the SLM Chess Club during Lunchbrary and Nightbrary.
The library serves as club headquarters with numerous chess boards in the Game Gallery section at SLM.
Students hold club meetings and host tournaments during Lunchbrary and Nightbrary.
I proudly serve as the faculty advisor for the SLM Chess Club. Congrats!
seminole state dream gala
Served in my 4th year as an official volunteer with the Foundation of Seminole State College for the school's annual Dream Gala fundraising event, where a whopping $630,000 was raised to supper student scholarships and faculty programs.
2025 Dream Gala Total Raised = $630,000
2024 Dream Gala Total Raised = $609,000
2023 Dream Gala Total Raised = $590,000
2022 Dream Gala Total Raised = $550,000
improv @ sSC
Created a free, drop-in improv workshop series with faculty Theatre Professor Niki Salamon in the Seminole State College black box space - Le Petit Théâtre, where we teach college students the fundamentals of performing improvisational theater.
Back To School 5K
Back To School 5K
Participated in the 2nd Annual "Back To School 5K" to benefit the Seminole State Men and Women's Cross Country teams.
NIGHTBRARY
NIGHTBRARY
I created Lunchbrary and Nightbrary, noisy academic library program models that creatively fuse the arts, games, and music into a weekly engagement extravaganza for First-Year seminar students in THEIR college library.
I wrote two soon-to-be-published chapters on Nightbrary and its impact on student engagement in a pair of ACRL books about the Library as Space and engaging students through meaningful participatory programming in the college library.
LUNCHBRARY
NIGHTBRARY
I define Lunchbrary as:
“A daytime collaborative extravaganza co-created by librarians, student clubs, college departments, and teaching faculty throughout the library space”
Lunchbrary hits different.
Lunchbrary runs in the daytime.
Lunchbrary is 1 hour - every Wednesday, same day as Nightbrary.
The major difference is that Lunchbrary is built on College collaboration. College departments present in the Cozy Corner and Student Clubs host events in the Art Area and Game Gallery. Over 15-weeks (and one finals party to close out each term), the library co-creates each unique Lunchbrary experience with many program partners.
research rly
research rly
I conceptualized RESEARCH RALLY in the Spring of 2002 originally as part of Nightbrary, which introduced faculty librarians from Seminole State College to first-year seminar students in the undergraduate IDS1107 course, which requires participation at a minimum of two college programs or events.
Along with librarian colleagues Nicole Sotak and Ross Martin, we delivered 73 Research Rally live recorded online instructional video episodes to meet and engage students at their virtual point of need, and teach FY students information literacy using emerging technologies during a live broadcast streamed online and captured for YouTube.
Nicole Sotak became managing producer and re-imagined the live librarian instruction web series as Research Rally Live. We recorded 30 episodes.
nightbrary
summer 2025 nightbrary
NIGHTBRARY spring 2025 FINALS PARTY
NIGHTBRARY spring 2025 FINALS PARTY
NIGHTBRARY > Art, Games, Music!
SUMMER 2025 EDITION!
WEDNESDAYS @ SLM Library | 5 - 7 P.M.
MAY 14 - AUG 6
Nightbrary is a unique student engagement extravaganza featuring art, games, and music at SLM Library.
Come to the library every Wednesday from 5 - 7 p.m. this SUMMER and get engaged with SSC students, faculty, and staff.
Play Xbox Series S with game pass, hit the ping pong table, enter the world of Dungeons and Dragons, or compete against students in the SLM Chess Club.
Sing a karaoke solo on stage or belt out a group song with your friends or student life club members.
Make art in the student art area with acrylic paint and watercolors, or take it back to the old school with markers, crayons, or colored pencils.
Librarians are available to assist with reference or research questions and help with citations for college assignments.
Oh, we also serve snacks and sodas, and everyone gets First-Year Experience (FYE) credit for the IDS1107 Flightpath Class.
Your Library. Your Nightbrary!
NIGHTBRARY spring 2025 FINALS PARTY
NIGHTBRARY spring 2025 FINALS PARTY
NIGHTBRARY spring 2025 FINALS PARTY
NIGHTBRARY 2025 FINALS PARTY
Dozens of students and more friends from the greater Sanford/Lake Mary community came to SLM Library to enjoy the 5-HOUR Nightbrary Finals Party that closed out the Spring 2025 semester on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at Seminole State College of Florida.
A marvelous collection of students who met and became friends at Nightbrary earlier in the term formed a band and performed LIVE! The entire live stream is on the Seminole State Library's YouTube page.
The library bought Publix subs for dinner and dished up cookies and coffee for dessert. A new Chess Club tournament champion was crowned, and two graduating students received commemorative mugs, personalized with their names, and were celebrated as Library Lifers.
Pictured is the crew on stage in the Cozy Cozy performance section of the SLM Library.
lunchbrary
summer 2025 lunchbrary
LUNCHBRARY
Summer 2025 Edition!
MAY 14 - AUG 6
11:30 p.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Every Wednesday
@ SLM Library
Come to YOUR library and experience Lunchbrary every Wednesday @ SLM Library.
Engage with library staff and learn with librarians while playing games, making art, and creating new knowledge with the SSC Community.
Check the calendar each week for different events, ranging from chess tournaments and paint parties to financial literacy workshops and spotlights on library services, resources, and collections!
Attend any Lunchbrary event, grab free snacks, and earn attendance credit for your first-year experience (FYE) IDS1107 course.
Your Library. Your Lunchbrary!
SPRING 2025 LUNCHBRARY
Lunchbrary is back this Spring with another exciting term of student engagement events, Wednesdays @ SLM Library.
Program collabs with two different stages - area one for departments across the college and area two is for student life organizations.
2024 NEWS
NIGHTBRARY CHAPTER PROPOSAL ACCEPTED
DEC 2024
CHAPTER PROPOSAL ACCEPTED
My chapter proposal, “Nightbrary: Fusing art, games, and music into a weekly student engagement experience inside the college library,” has been selected for inclusion in the upcoming book, Academic Libraries and the First Year Experience.
About the Book:
Academic Libraries and the First Year Experience aims to share how academic libraries can help positively impact the first-year experience of students. This edited book will highlight and showcase the work librarians are doing in the realm of outreach and programming within the first-year experience, focusing on collaborations and student success.
Edited By:
Jillian Eslami, Texas A&M University and Heather Snapp, Florida Gulf Coast University
Publisher:
Association of College Research Libraries [ ACRL ]
Publication anticipated fall 2026
Florida Library association Conference
MAY 2024
The 2024 Nightbrary World Tour continued May 17 in Orlando, Florida, as Librarian Nicole Sotak, Library Director Morgan Tracy, and I presented on Lunchbrary x Nightbrary: New Methods for Student Engagement for 60+ academic & public library colleagues at the Florida Library Association (FLA) Annual Conference. Proud to represent Seminole State College of Florida and share our BRARY.
First-Year Experience Conference
First-Year Experience Conference
FEB 2024
Represented Seminole State at the 43rd Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience in SEATTLE and presented on the SSC College Libraries' student engagement program series -
New Methods for Student Engagement
Leadership Academy
LEADERSHIP ACADEMY GRADUATE
First-Year Experience Conference
JAN 2024
Travelled to TALLAHASSEE with the Leadership Academy Class XV to tour the FL state’s capitol and supreme court, meet with lawmakers and legislators, and learn more about the legislative process.
Seminole State Dream Gala
LEADERSHIP ACADEMY GRADUATE
LEADERSHIP ACADEMY GRADUATE
FEB 2024
Volunteered for a third consecutive year with the Foundation for Seminole State College of Florida to raise over $600k for student scholarships and programs at Seminole State College at the 40th annual Dream Gala.
LEADERSHIP ACADEMY GRADUATE
LEADERSHIP ACADEMY GRADUATE
LEADERSHIP ACADEMY GRADUATE
APR 2024
Completed Leadership Academy and am proud to be an alumnus of Class 15, along with two dozen college employees, of this yearlong leadership development program. Pictured with SSC President, Dr. Georgia Lorenz.
LIS2004 SPRING B
summer 2024 NIGHTBRARY
spring NIGHTBRARY
MAR 2024
Taught LIS2004 Research Strategies for College Students at Seminole State College of Florida in the Spring "B" session in 2024.
spring NIGHTBRARY
summer 2024 NIGHTBRARY
spring NIGHTBRARY
SPRING 2024
Produced 138 Spring session student engagement programs at Seminole State College Libraries, including Lunchbrary and Nightbrary.
summer 2024 NIGHTBRARY
summer 2024 NIGHTBRARY
summer 2024 NIGHTBRARY
MAY 2024
Produced 11 weeks of Nightbrary this summer and co-creating events with students in the brand new - Brary Brunch - library club for different 2-hour spectaculars from 5 - 7 p.m. every Wednesday beginning May 15 @ SLM Library.