Roughly 80 Oak Park community members co-signed a letter asking for the resignations of Oak Park Public Library Executive Director Joslyn Bowling Dixon, Deputy Director Suzy Wulf and Director of Communications and Development Jodi Kolo.
The letter, written on behalf of the community group Freedom to Thrive Oak Park, also called for other actions, including a reinvigorated commitment to anti-racism practices.
The letter comes among heavy criticism of the library leaders from former staff and community members over the handling of a Palestinian cultural event, the elimination of two community engagement staff positions and their response to those concerns.
The letter’s authors said they have seen a failure to adhere to the library’s Anti-Racism Strategic Plan and “poor judgement” from Dixon, Wulf and Kolo. They wrote that stories detailing a climate of fear and mistrust at the library have been abundant for nearly a year.
They list other concerns, including the library’s “fact-checker” page, which they claim used public money to promote opinions and politics rather than facts on a library-sponsored website, as well as a failure to equitably process Freedom of Information Act requests.
“These actions are unacceptable, counter to — and often in direct defiance of — the Board-approved Anti-Racism Strategic Plan, which includes equity practices and principles the Oak Park community has invested significant resources in creating,” they wrote.
In the letter, the authors also shared frustration that library leadership claimed Juanta Griffin, the library’s multicultural learning coordinator, was responsible for confusion about the Palestinian culture event.
“If the leadership had appreciated and engaged restorative practices, this situation might not have escalated,” the authors wrote. “We are now at a point beyond repair.”
The community members are asking for a safe and welcoming environment at the library, and outline steps they believe will achieve those goals.
Those steps include supporting Griffin, reinstating former restorative practices coordinator Tatiana Swancy, requiring restorative practices training for library leadership, conducting a financial audit of the library and answering questions about the handling of the Palestinian culture event.
“Your actions – or failure to act – will determine the future of the Oak Park Public Library and reflect on Oak Park’s national reputation as a restorative library,” the authors wrote.
