The Farmington Village Green and Library Association is happy to announce Jocelyn Kennedy has been named Executive Director for The Farmington Libraries. She will begin in her new role starting on September 5th. A Farmington resident since 2014, she is eager to embrace and further the mission and vision of her hometown library.
Jocelyn most recently held the role of Executive Director and Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School Library, where she led a team of close to one hundred, managed a budget of $12 million, and oversaw the country’s largest collection of law texts and materials. Prior to Harvard, Jocelyn was the Director of Library services at the UCONN School of Law, where she managed all aspects of library facilities and staff.
Throughout her time at Harvard and UCONN, Jocelyn drove innovations in library access and interior design to better serve patrons, served on committees that furthered diversity and inclusion efforts, and cultivated a network of peers in law and public libraries across the country.
Jocelyn’s passion for leading and actively mentoring staff to realize their professional goals was especially important to the board and staff. “During our search process, Jocelyn’s collaborative leadership style, curiosity, and vision for the libraries’ continued success stood out to all who met her,” according to the board and the search committee.
The national search began in January of this year and concluded after a rigorous vetting process that included a fully vested staff leader on the search committee, the input of Farmington’s Town Manager, and time spent with Library staff. The library board is grateful to Terry Roberts, who has been serving as the interim director of The Farmington Libraries since October of 2022, in addition to her role as interim Board Chair.
Jocelyn is very excited to lead The Farmington Libraries, and said, “I am delighted to work with the amazing and dedicated team at the Farmington Libraries as we diversify our offerings and collections, improve our spaces, and expand our patron base. The Farmington Libraries have something to offer each person in town and my goal is to ensure the Libraries continue to be at the center of our community in the years to come. I am grateful to the Library Board for inviting me to lead the Farmington Libraries and especially to Terry Roberts who has so ably stewarded the Libraries over the last several months. I look forward to meeting our current patrons and welcoming new library card holders (September is National Library Card Sign-up month) to the Farmington Libraries.”
