Michele Forney MASL Conference Scholarship AwardMichele Forney MASL Conference Scholarship Award 2025Michele Forney was a beloved media specialist in both Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties which stemmed from a long love of sharing books with children. This love extended to her involvement in MASL where she served as President from 2010-11 and on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Committee from 2006-2014. Michele found it particularly rewarding to work with students with special needs. Michele lost her battle with cancer on March 19, 2016, and her bright smile and warm heart are missed by many. Because of Michele’s dedication to the field of school librarianship, a fund has been set up in her honor to offer a scholarship which will cover the costs of MASL Conference registration for one new librarian. Eligibility:
Please check back for information about the application process for the 2025 MASL Conference. Michele Forney MASL Conference Scholarship Award 2018The 2018 Michele Forney Award recipient is Lillian Carden, library media specialist at Watkins Mill Elementary School in Montgomery County.
Lillian is a new library media specialist who has made several changes to her physical space to better accommodate her students. She re-arranged the physical space of the media center by removing outdated equipment to create more room, relocating shelving to create more open areas and walkthroughs, and then moved tables and chairs to create two separate instructional spaces and several small group work areas. She also removed many of the posters and decorations that were covering the walls, because she felt that they were causing too much sensory noise. She exchanged those for fewer and simpler posters that better matched the vision of her school and made the media center more calming. Her future plans include purchasing comfortable seating and creating some small reading nooks so that all students will be able to find a comfortable spot in the media center. With regard to instruction, she has been working with her school’s Learning Center classes to find ways to adapt teaching methods and lessons to meet the needs of those students. Since the media center is on a flexible schedule, the classroom teachers stay in the media center for book exchange visits and to co-teach lessons, so they are able to give her great feedback on the best ways to engage their students. She realizes that she has more to learn before she fully understands all their needs and can make all the necessary adaptations to help every student achieve – we know she is up for the challenge! Congratulations, Lily! History of this AwardMichele Forney was a beloved media specialist in both Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties who had a lifetime love of sharing books with children. This love extended to her involvement in MASL where she served as President from 2010-11 and on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Committee from 2006-2014. Michele found it particularly rewarding to work with students with special needs. Past Recipients: 2018: Lillian Carden, Montgomery County Public Schools 2017: Dawn Murphy-Marshall 2016: Kate Flynn Because of Michele’s dedication to the field of school librarianship, a fund has been set up in her honor to offer a scholarship which will cover the costs of MASL Conference registration for one new librarian. If you wish to donate, please send a check to You can also donate here: |
