‘So grateful'

Sarkodie-Mensah’s duties included working with instructors in the English Department’s First-Year Writing Seminar (FWS) courses and assisting first-year students on where and how to research information as part of the writing process. For Sarkodie-Mensah, such tasks were an opportunity to directly support BC’s educational and formational mission.  

“We want our students to set the world aflame,” he said, referring to the iconic St. Ignatius Loyola quotation, “but we don’t want them to do it with bad fire.”

Working in O’Neill Library also put Sarkodie-Mensah at a central University location that was often a locus for organized or spontaneous gatherings: the University prayer service held on the Plaza at O’Neill Library a few hours after the 9/11 attacks; the groups of people who assembled in the O’Neill lobby to watch TV coverage of the election of Pope Francis; and the students who met up in the lobby to say goodbye on the day in March of 2020 when BC announced it was suspending on-campus classes and closing residence halls due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“To see people gathering to comfort one another, to express solidarity and togetherness, it made me realize how often the library spaces are a welcoming ‘safe spot’ for the BC community,” said Sarkodie-Mensah, who was also a part-time faculty member in the Woods College of Advancing Studies. “I am very pleased to have been a part of the University Libraries’ mission. I feel that is in keeping with the idea of teaching men and women to be in service to others.”

 Sarkodie-Mensah first observed service leadership as a boy in Ghana attending a school run by the Brothers of the Holy Cross, and their dedication left an impression on him. After he finished college in Ghana, he worked in Nigeria to save money to further his education in the United States, and in 1982 he enrolled as a master’s degree student at Clarion University in Pennsylvania to study library science—a field that appealed to him because it meant helping others with academic work. Following Clarion, he earned a doctorate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and in 1989 joined Northeastern University as library instruction coordinator.

 He enjoyed his time at Northeastern, but three years later he learned about a library administrative job opening at Boston College, whose Jesuit, Catholic character greatly appealed to him. “I just heard a voice inside that said, ‘Go to BC,’” he recalled.

Sarkodie-Mensah knew he had come to the right place. In addition to the high-quality academic and professional environment, he found a community through which he could pursue his faith mission, and he became involved in various religious- and spiritual-based activities and programs, among them First Year Experience and Campus Ministry service trips abroad.

And then he got an idea: Why not arrange a service trip to his native country with BC students?

“I wanted this to be a different kind of trip,” he said. “I really wanted for us to help the kids in Ghana learn about computers and to have the experience of being able to use them, because today’s world is all about computers.”

Sarkodie-Mensah would go on to lead 10 three-week summer service trips to Ghana, with computers donated by BC, as well as used tennis equipment for recreational activities.

“The first year was the hardest,” he recalled. “The [Ghana] kids, who had never been in front of computers, were afraid that if they broke them, their parents would have to pay. We had to give them reassurance. The BC students were the ones who really did the work, and they challenged the kids to do their best.

“But I also challenged the students: I asked them, ‘What did the kids teach you?’ If we don’t push our young people to learn from their experiences, then they won’t succeed.”

Sarkodie-Mensah feels he’s not done helping Ghana: There is still widespread poverty, and drug use and violence pose dangers for the coming generation of young people. “I want to build a safe place, where the kids can do their homework, use computers, and get something to eat—and, above all, be able to get off the streets.”

For now, he is reflecting on his BC years—as are the many colleagues and friends who attended his retirement party in September or bade him farewell privately.

“I’ve never met someone who genuinely cares as much and as deeply about others as Kwasi,” said O’Neill Library Associate Instruction Services Librarian Sarah Rebecca Gaglio. “He was an incredible librarian and coworker because he is such a fantastic human: open, curious, compassionate, and kind. His collaborative spirit—‘We did it together’ was a key phrase I learned quickly—and the way he centered the students in every aspect of the work continue to inspire me.”

Associate University Librarian for Research Services and Educational Initiatives Margaret Cohen praised his “deep commitment to fostering student learning and student formation” which has left “a lasting impact on countless BC students, faculty, and staff.  His presence has been a constant source of support, wisdom, and guidance, and we are all so grateful for the care and kindness he brought to the entire community.”

For his reminiscence, University Librarian Thomas Wall recalled an all-staff meeting held early in the post-pandemic period. “We discussed BC Libraries reaffirming its commitment to the University’s mission, and the question was, ‘What would that look like?’” he said. “‘Well,’ I said, without hesitation or forethought, ‘just spend a few hours watching Kwasi.’”<

“I loved being at BC and am so grateful for what I’ve been able to do here,” said Sarkodie-Mensah, a Ghana native who was manager of instructional services—and most recently senior instruction and programs librarian—for University Libraries, shortly before he retired earlier this fall. “I feel that there is more I would like to do, especially to spend more time with my family. And I want to visit Ghana and continue helping others there. I feel so lucky that God gave me opportunities to learn and grow from my years in the BC community.”

Sarkodie-Mensah left no shortage of friends and admirers at BC, who extol his generosity of spirit and fellowship, as well as his dedication to supporting the University’s educational and formational mission.

“Working with Kwasi and getting to know him as a friend and colleague has reminded me that being attentive to the person in front of me, remembering to lean on others for support and truly work together, and celebrating individual talents makes our work better, our lives better, and gives us perspective,” said Head Librarian for Instruction Services Leea Stroia. Filling his shoes may be impossible, she said, “but part of what Kwasi has left behind is a reminder to us all to bring who we are authentically to what is in front of us. I think he taught us to not try to be him, but to be ourselves and cherish others for who they are. That is something precious.”

The 33 years he worked at BC often gave Sarkodie-Mensah a unique window on the University, as both an educational institution and a community.