While Black History Month is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the many past achievements of Black people, ViMLoC would like to spend each week highlighting some of the current Black library professionals in our network.  

This week, meet Dominic Hakim Silvio, who is a Subject Specialist at Dalhousie University.

Tell us about someone who inspires you, and why?

There are so many of them, but I will have to give it up to Carolyn K Murray, retired librarian at the University of Toronto Libraries. She made me fall in love with the work librarians do.

Tell us one thing about yourself that others in the profession (or colleagues) may not know about you

I am first generation South Sudanese Canadian immigrant and also the first librarian in my family.

Why did you choose to become a librarian?

I choose to become a librarian because it is a challenging but interesting profession. Challenging because I have to deal with a variety of research questions from both students and faculty. Interesting because I have to be well informed and ready to deal with whatever research question comes my way.  I also choose librarianship because I would like to empower young black students who have never had a black librarian before.

What are your thoughts on current EDI work in Canadian librarianship or academia?

I think EDI work in Canadian librarianship is at the talk level and no meaningful action. I believe librarianship is not yet ready to accept “others” into the profession. I hope this situation will change in the near future as open-minded folks join the profession.

(We thank Dominic for providing his time to share a bit about himself with ViMLoC.)