The Kenefick/Brennan General Library Endowment was established in 1989, as a family endeavor, by the late William N. Kenefick ('33); his son and daughter-in-law, John (’69) and Kathleen Kenefick; and his daughter and son-in-law, Kathy and Michael Brennan. Bill was often referred to as “the father of Michigan City urban renewal.” John is vice president of marketing and sales for Corey Steel Company in Chicago, and Michael is the developer of Lighthouse Place, a retail outlet shopping center in Michigan City.

The Kenefick/Brennan Endowment allows the Hesburgh Libraries to respond to Notre Dame’s expanding and shifting research initiatives with both materials and service support. By helping to fund the Hesburgh Libraries’ North American Approval Plan, the endowment also allows the Libraries to continue to maintain currency in United States acquisitions and to selectively fill in existing gaps in collections as they are identified.

The Hesburgh Libraries touch every aspect of the University. Students and faculty use journals, books, databases, and collections for study and discovery in every field. As such, this endowment supports a myriad of scholarly work. Two items of note as funded through general library endowment funds is a three-year subscription to Jane’s Sentinel Country Risk Assessment, a product including over 200 reports on United Nations recognized countries, territories, and commonwealths, and the Joint Publications Research Service Reports, 1957-1994, which is an archive of intelligence-related scientific, technical, and social science materials.