Chloé Cabrales
Staff Writer
Joslyn Bowling Dixon is the embodiment of a Dominican University alum. The examples she has set with her accomplishments, goals and desire to form a bond with her peers shows just what a Dominican University graduate should always strive to achieve.
“If I can make it so that someone else does not have to do things the hard way, I want to help those people,” she says. “I want to be the person that sometimes I wish I had and influence the change I want to see. That is why I became a leader.”
Dixon’s hiring was approved unanimously by the Oak Park Public Library Board on Oct. 6 and has since begun her position as library executive director on Nov. 7.
Before coming to the Oak Park Public Library, she was director of Newark Public Library in New Jersey and spent the last 10 years developing her craft on the East Coast. It was her connection to home and the community that helped her make the conscious decision to come back to Illinois. One of her earliest positions was working at the Oak Park Public library as their circulation manager while juggling work as a reference librarian at the River Forest Public Library.
Since receiving her master’s in library science at Dominican University in 2009, Dixon stated that she received the transferable skills in which she used to polish her professionally and gave her the preparation she needed for this title.
While her career took off after receiving her bachelor’s degree at Hampton university, she only acquired the experience needed for position prior to going Dominican. It was when she made the decision to go back to school to receive her master’s to gain the credentials she needed to continue striving for the community.
“While I wished I had not waited so long to receive my master’s, my drive to progressively grow and learn within my career gave me the motivation,” she says. “What else can I be doing?” Taking that question to heart, to become the person she felt needed the most back in her time of need, she used her education to further her career’s reach and responsibilities. “Every time you diversify a profession, you elevate it.”
It all came with its fair share of hardships. “Working full time, being a full-time single parent was difficult, but education is really the key. It is about your training. Invest in your profession and show people that. No one can stop you but you, by hook and crook, however you must get it done, education comes in handy.”
Dixon’s hope is that her legacy is “to be an advocate and mentor for staff and help maintain this high standard of service, innovation, librarianship, and community.” She is looking forward to being an active alum and seeing how Oak Park Public Library and Dominican University can partner to help give more access to future DU leaders of tomorrow.
ccabrales@my.dom.edu
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