Coalition Convener

“I believe all librarians can be social justice activists and advocate for others,” says Emily Dowie, whose work ties librarianship to social justice.

Dowie, who started working in libraries as a 17-year-old page, created and leads the NYLA Roundtable Coalition for Library Workers of Color. Points of action for the organization include library sponsorship of support staff attending library school, library staff workshops around undoing racism, and the formation of a mentorship program.

The last objective holds special meaning to Dowie. “People of color in librarianship deserve mentors,” she explains. “One of my mentors was my childhood librarian, a wonderful woman named Noël Yount. She always found books for me and told me to become a librarian when I grew up. If not for Noël’s encouragement, I’m not sure I’d have seen librarianship as a profession for a mixed-race girl like me.”

Despite resistance by system directors who didn’t agree that the group was necessary nor that employees should attend meetings on library time, “Emily did not back down from the message that this group was important and overdue,” says her nominator, Jennifer Dadio, youth services director at Pearl River Public Library, where Dowie was formerly teen librarian. “She blossomed into a force to be reckoned with.”

Coalition members are slated to present at the New York Library Association 2021 Annual Conference. “I do not accept that librarianship is 90 percent white. I do not accept that people should not be held accountable for their actions. I do not accept that we can’t fight injustice,” says Dowie, a former president of the New York Black Librarians Caucus. “Change is always possible.”