We are pleased to share that Randolph White (MLIS ’20) was chosen as one of CBC’s 2023 Black Changemakers for Nova Scotia.
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Randolph White: The mission is “yes”
Randolph White’s plan was to be a math teacher.
He had a facility with numbers, and wanted to make the subject easier for people who were struggling. But his calling to help others took a slightly different path when he started working at the library to pay for school. He began to realize that the library was a hub for the community, and he could have a meaningful and lasting impact on people’s lives through simple, small actions. When a young man approached him, saying, “We need support, we’re hurting. I think we need to get together,” White didn’t hesitate, and they formed a men’s group for African-Nova Scotians.
Whether through that group, or youth programming or his volunteer work with the African Nova Scotian Social Innovation Lab, White found he could contribute to changing the trajectory of people’s lives for the better.
“I always think of it as just illuminating what’s already there, so I’m just the one holding the flashlight on what the potential is so that they can see it themselves.”
Now the branch manager at the Halifax North Memorial Public Library, White makes it his mission to say “yes” when someone needs something.
Marie Elizabeth DeYoung hung out a perfect line of clothes a week before she died. “That’s my last line,” she said as her sheets dried in the wind and sun just as they were supposed to do. A day later, Marie spent the last day in her Halifax home putting her documents into folders – one for legal documents, one for subscriptions, one for appliance manuals, one for bank and credit card accounts. A librarian by vocation and by disposition, she saw putting files in the right folders as a first principle. A principle with a purpose. Get yourself organized, and you might just put the precious time you have on earth to good use. Marie did just that. In her last year of life, after major surgery, Marie seized the day by taking one final trip to Europe. She always flew business class, stayed in good hotels, dined well and came home after a few days to her spotless home on a leafy Halifax street to watch Jeopardy on her ancient cathode ray TV. Earlier in the day, pre-Jeopardy, Marie would tune her stereo to CBC Radio to listen to classical music while she read a book. A glass of fresh water was left on an end table for Alice, her cat. A half dozen or so novels, borrowed from the Halifax Public Library, were stacked neatly on the coffee table.
The team of people that I get to work with each day are fantastic. When I started working in the Medical School I had no idea I would be a “lifer.” After I had been there a year, Sharon Forward, the Director of Medicine Admissions said “just wait you’ll be here in 10 years before you know it.” She took me to lunch when I had been there that long. Our department spends our time supporting the entire Faculty of Medicine community. One of the biggest projects our team was ever part of was the opening of the Saint John satellite medical school for New Brunswick students. It took our entire team to get that launched, and the quality of this program is a testament to the team. I am very proud to be part of that group.