When Shannon Gorres, a Latin American Studies doctoral student at the University of Kansas, looks back on the graduate research seminar she took with Jana Krentz, a number of moments stick out in her mind. She remembers Krentz asking the class for "preguntas, problemas, protestas," the alliterative Spanish equivalent of "questions, problems, protests." She remembers how Krentz, who also knows German as well as her curly light-blond hair might suggest, always chose to call any problem that would come up "a pain in the bunda," the Portuguese word for someone's "backside." Mostly, though, Gorres remembers the day Krentz showed up head-to-toe in traditional Latin American indigenous attire at an event on the third floor of Watson Library and danced the Samba in between the tables and books for everyone in attendance.
Krentz directs the International Studies Department and serves as the subject librarian for five other subjects for the KU Libraries, including Spanish, Portuguese and Caribbean languages and literature. Krentz also speaks more than 10 languages, including Haitian Creole and the South American indigenous language Quechua.
"Her personality is fit for Latin America," Gorres said. "Latin America is exciting, diverse, full of life, and that's Jana. She practices these cultures and makes them come alive."
Since coming to KU, Krentz has also made the role of librarian come alive. Krentz said when she came to KU 14 years ago, her job was pretty much processing books and maybe helping a student once a year who would come in with a question. Now, Krentz said she spends about nine and a half hours per week helping students one-on-one, teaches a 700 level Latin American Studies graduate research seminar and gives guest lectures on new research technology and methods to classes across the university. Last year, Krentz visited 73 classes - 23 more than the year before - and reached around 1,800 students in those classes.
"Everything I do is student-centered. I don't make a move without thinking what's in their benefit," Krentz said. "In the past couple of years, I found I could not do my job without being in the classroom."
For about 30 of these classes each year, Krentz also creates online course guides, or Web sites specific for each class that she designs with links to the databases she finds most useful for finding information on each class's subject area.
"We get new databases monthly," Krentz said. "I sometimes feel overwhelmed with the number of resources. If I'm having a problem, I can't imagine what the students are having."
Krentz said this helps simplify database research but that she is limited by being the only subject librarian creating course pages at KU.
Along with her work on campus this fall, Krentz has also started an International Area Studies Outreach Program for seventh graders at South Junior High in Lawrence, said Rebecca Smith, director of communication and advancement for the KU Libraries.
"Jana's role with International studies has been able to help the community," Smith said, "and any thing we can do beyond the hill is so important, not only for the libraries but for the university. This program has the potential to touch every seventh grader in this school."
Now that Gorres has become a doctoral student, she has returned to her former research professor to help direct her students in their undergraduate research. Gorres said in the past when Krentz has visited her classes, she has kept frisbees that say "Watson Library" under the desk classes that she would throw to the students when they would get a question right. Gorres said Krentz also has used "code-switching," or inserting words from different languages like Spanish or Portuguese, to help keep the students' attention.
"She sees research as an interactive process," Gorres said. "Her level of enthusiasm and energy for the subject material is inspiring. She brings resources to life."
One of Gorres' students this semester, Eric Martinez, said the presentation Krentz gave to his class helped him find information on the indigenous group he is studying and that he would recommend her as a resource to any students struggling to find sources.
"I would tell them to shoot her an e-mail or visit her office hours," Martinez said. "She's an exciting person who knows how to have fun while teaching her techniques."
Rosalea Postma-Carttar, an associate specialist in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese who had Krentz create a course page for one of her classes this semester, said she hopes all Krentz is doing has not been too overwhelming, though, since she lost her full-time assistant this fall.
"I don't know what I would do without having her," Postma-Carttar said. "At the same time, I know how busy she is, and I just hope she'll let the faculty know what she can do and what she can't."
All of the work Krentz does for her students has forced her to make sacrifices. Krentz said about once every year, she takes a trip to buy books for KU, and this month, she turned down a fully paid trip to a book fair in Madrid, Spain, because she felt an obligation to stay and teach classes.
"That was a sacrifice," Krentz said with a laugh. "That really hurt."
One thing Krentz said she refuses to let go, though, is her time with her 11-year-old only daughter, Julia.
"I have a small child," Krentz said, "so I really have to guard that jealously."
Though she could not fit in Spain this month, Krentz said one thing that has helped her spend more time with her daughter has been including her on her yearly trips to buy books. Every five years, Krentz said she takes a trip outside the U.S. Krentz said she has the opportunity later this year to attend a meeting put on by SALAM, a Latin American librarians' group, in the principal country of her own roots, Germany, and that she hopes to have enough money so that she can bring Julia along.
"They give her lots of Brazilian chocolate and candy (at the SALAM meetings). They treat her like a little reina," Krentz said, code-switching the Spanish world "reina" for queen.
Already, at 11, Julia is showing signs of having inherited her mom's knack for language.
"She speaks some Spanish," Krentz said, "and she likes Portuguese a lot."
Jana Krentz began her multilingual education as a child when her German family raised her in what was at the time a bilingual German community in Oshkosh, Wis. Krentz said her father wanted her to become a nurse and study German but that she chose to study Spanish instead when she moved to Madison to begin her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin because she found it more exciting.
"I was not interested in German. It was not exotic enough," Krentz said.
Krentz said she never had any interest in becoming a librarian when she was young because she believed she would find it, too, not exotic enough.
"I didn't particularly like to read, and I definitely didn't want to be a librarian," Krentz said. "I had lots of stereotypes about librarians, and I wanted adventure and travel."
In college, once Krentz began to study languages and especially after she took a student librarian job as an undergraduate in Madison, her opinion changed, though.
"It took all the stress away," Krentz said about her first librarian job in Madison. "I found it so cool that I could finally find something I could apply my languages to."
Ironically, since becoming a librarian at KU, Krentz said she has had both adventure and travel and that her job with the KU Libraries has sent her on book-buying trips to Spain, Brazil, Honduras, Costa Rica on multiple occasions and much of Central America. Krentz said that although her daughter Julia may share her gift for acquiring language, tagging along on mom's trips is the closest Julia comes to planning to be a librarian right now.
"She wants to be a chemical engineer," Krentz said.
Julia may still yet find an interest in becoming a librarian, though. At age 11, her mother had a full seven years left before she would first get to that point.
Click above to view Krentz's story.
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