In the News: DU Alumna to Lead Oak Park Public Library

Joslyn Bowling Dixon MLIS ’09 has been named the new executive director of the Oak Park Public Library.

Dixon’s hiring was approved unanimously by the Oak Park Library Board on Oct. 6. She will begin her new role on Nov. 7,

The Oak Park Library is a familiar place for Dixon. From 2005 to 2007, she was the library’s circulation manager. She also worked part-time as a reference librarian at the neighboring River Forest Public Library.

Most recently, Dixon was director of the Newark Public Library in Newark, New Jersey. She currently serves as councilor-at-large for the American Library Association.

According to the Oak Park Library, Dixon is a certified racial healing circle practitioner and serves on the American Library Association’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Speakers Bureau, which was launched in 2019. She also served as an equity, diversity and inclusion consultant for an initiative aimed at recruiting, retention and inclusion of people of color within the library and information science field.

Oak Park Library’s previous executive director, David Seleb, retired in February.

Read more about Dixon’s hiring in the Wednesday Journal.