Tara Kenjockety understands the value of connection.

“Connecting helps to build community,” she said.

Kenjockety is interim department head of User Education and Engagement, undergraduate community engagement librarian and anthropology librarian at the Hesburgh Libraries. In this faculty leadership role, she develops learning and engagement opportunities to support the educational and instructional needs of Notre Dame students and faculty, with an emphasis on first-year students, first-generation students and diverse student groups.

“At the Hesburgh Libraries, we strive to connect with students early in their academic careers and to support them in their learning goals throughout their time at Notre Dame. In its fullest iteration, this includes engaging them in conversation and developing an understanding of their unique academic interests and needs,” said Erika Hosselkus, associate university librarian for Distinctive and Academic Collections. “Tara is a passionate educator, deeply skilled at meeting students where they are and inviting them into the Hesburgh Libraries community. We are very fortunate to have her leading our User Education and Engagement department.”

The journey to education and community

Kenjockety says that her journey as an educator and as a librarian stems from her own personal experiences.

“I grew up in an under-resourced area, and I didn't know what I didn't know,” she said. “I was a first-generation college student who came from generational poverty. My parents knew that education was important. But they didn't know how to navigate the landscape.”

As a college student at Indiana University, Kenjockety found success by making connections with people and resources across her campus. She graduated with a degree in anthropology. She wanted to be an educator and went on to get her Master of Library and Information Science from IU Indianapolis.

“I studied library and information science because I wanted to know how to identify and share the tools that people need to be successful,” she said. “I saw some students derail due to system failure. In those instances, they could have been successful given the right resources, the right motivation and the right understanding.”

Work at the Hesburgh Libraries

In her daily work as a member of the Hesburgh Libraries faculty, Kenjockety engages with individuals across campus to help connect them with the tools and resources they need to foster success in their coursework, research or creative endeavors.

“What really motivates me in my work is teaching, education and outreach,” she said. “How do we make students, faculty and staff on campus more aware of the Hesburgh Libraries services and expertise that can help facilitate their success? I like being a resource. An outreach librarian is also a connector of people who, together, make really amazing things happen.”

Kenjockety’s knack for connection isn’t hard to recognize. On one November Friday morning, while attending an open house for first-generation students at LaFortune Student Center, the librarian visited with some of the University’s Questbridge scholars and discussed the possibility of setting up a library tour.

“It's great when the library can do a research session with a classroom and work with the faculty, but that's really scratching the surface of the resources we have available,” she said. “When I have clubs and groups come in, I can tailor tours to their specific needs. Because they are with people they regularly spend time with outside of the classroom, the students are usually a lot more comfortable asking questions.”

Connections Across Campus

In addition to the work she does connecting people to the Hesburgh Libraries, Kenjockety also works to connect students across the broader campus community.

During the fall 2023 semester, she worked with Ricky Herbst, cinema program director at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, and Ashlee Bird, assistant American Studies professor and Native American game designer, on the Learning Beyond Classics community film series centered around Indigenous cinema.

Kenjockety, an enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and part of the Seneca Nation, became familiar with the series through her personal interests. She saw the Learning Through Classics series as an opportunity to help better connect Indigenous students with the broader campus and the community and give people a chance to see something from an often underrepresented viewpoint.

“It benefits everybody to see different perspectives, to see this other world you might not be exposed to,” said Kenjockety. “Like books, films offer people empathy and connection through storytelling.”

With a drive and personality that aid her in engaging with individuals and groups across the University, Kenjockety strives each day to connect members of the campus community with the people and resources they need to set them up to achieve their goals.

“Libraries are a powerful means of reaching so many,” she said. “I've had people tell me that I've really played a part in their success; I feel like the most important role I played was putting the right people and the right resources together.”