Executive Director Joslyn Bowling Dixon publicly apologized Monday for the way her administration at the Oak Park Public Library handled the management of a January Palestinian cultural event.
“I am sorry,” she wrote in an emailed statement. “There has been a lot of public conversation, hurt, and confusion about our library over the last week. I am accountable for this library and to this library. And I am deeply sorry I contributed to the hurt experienced by community members surrounding the Celebration of Palestinian Culture event.”
Her words come just days after the library’s Board of Trustees issued its own apology for the administration’s handling of the incidents. Board President Matthew Fruth did not respond to a request for comment.
The apology centers on behind-the-scenes actions that typically would have remained internal yet were made public and have been fought in an unusually public forum for the otherwise stately institution.
Last week, more than two dozen community members and former staff members pushed back against Dixon’s and Deputy Director Suzy Wulf’s management of the event, as well as Dixon’s elimination of two positions, one of which performed diversity, equity and inclusion duties.
They accused some members of the leadership team of treating that event differently from others held at the library, and questioned whether the motivations of the actions were racist and reactionary regarding the Israel-Hamas war.
The event was sponsored by Oak Park Neighbors for Justice and Peace in Palestine and Israel and the Oak Park and River Forest High School Middle Eastern/North African Student Alliance in January, and it celebrated Palestinian culture, drawing more than 400 attendees. But during the early planning stages, Dixon told Wednesday Journal, she emailed staff members to change its designation to “community” from a “library” event. A library event connotes official sponsorship and has the advantage of promotion through the library, among other things — a distinction even internal staff say was never made clear to them.
Dixon said that the library liaison for the event, Juanta Griffin, told her that this event was not a collaborative program. However, an email between the two women appears to show that Griffin clearly explained the collaboration among the groups and the library.
Griffin also told the Journal last week that she was on medical leave from October to December 2023, and another staff member became the contact person for the event. She said a library should be a safe space to celebrate culture, and pointed out that many other multicultural events had been promoted by the library.
Staff members also said that Wulf questioned the motives of the people hosting the event, saying that the library needed to prepare for violence or “riots.”
Wulf denied those allegations. She said her comments were designed to ensure staff members were sensitive to “both sides” of the “war in the Middle East.”
The unclear situation created confusion among staff and the public, particularly among members of the Palestinian community, who said they no longer felt safe at the library.
Dixon has said she never intended for anyone to feel unsafe.
“We all have spent much time attempting to explain what happened and why, and who knew what, and when and how…when what is most important to say, on behalf of the library and for me personally, is ‘I’m sorry.’”
In the second incident, Dixon eliminated two positions as a result of budget constraints, offering employees lateral moves. However, Tatiana Swancy, whose position was affected, served as the restorative practices coordinator on the community engagement team, and said she felt she could not do that work in the new position. She did not accept the new role.
Amid this increasingly public and complex situation, staff members affected by the incidents said they were told not to speak to the media and feared for their jobs.
In an interview Monday, spokeswoman Jodi Kolo denied this.
“I will say that the public library is very clear defender of the First Amendment and no staff would ever be let go simply for speaking to the media,” she said.
Last Friday evening, Dixon and the administration responded by publishing a “library fact-checker” it claims disputes, clarifies or corrects the record. For example, the author wrote, the library does not ban employees from speaking to the press and that more “Muslim” events are planned for the year.
“Culturally inclusive programming at the library continues,” Dixon wrote in her apology. “In March and April, Ramadan Around the World and Ramadan Read Aloud & Craft are happening, and more collaborative cultural events are in the works.”
Swancy on Monday distributed her own rebuttal to the fact-checking piece. She reinforced the idea that some members of the administration were creating a culture of fear while she disputed some of Dixon’s facts.
“In a meeting, Suzy Wulf stated to me, along with most of the Community Engagement Team, that we should’ve considered the timing before supporting the Celebration of Palestinian Culture because ‘there is a war going on over there,’” Swancy wrote.
“I would like to move on from this painful chapter in my life,” she added, “but I see library leadership continuing to mislead, lie, and harm certain staff and community members.”
Dixon said she cares “very much” about Oak Park, adding that she would never want “any less than a welcoming experience for every member of our community.”
“I am committed to repairing harm,” she said, “and to striving to empower every voice in our community.”
Note: This story was updated with Executive Director Joslyn Bowling Dixon’s apology. The Journal broke the news that one was expected today.
