Montgomery County Educational Media Staff Association
Nancy C. Walker Award
In 1985, MCEMSA established the Nancy C. Walker Award. Ms. Walker was the Director of MCPS Library Media Programs during the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Ms. Walker brought our Library Media Program to national prominence during her tenure.
Montgomery County Educational Media Staff Association (MCEMSA) has a long-standing tradition of honoring an administrator/administrative team that has demonstrated exemplary support for the library media program at their school.
MCEMSA is seeking nominations for the Nancy C. Walker Award for 2026-2027 school year. The application link is below. Please note that to submit a nomination you and your administrator must have worked together at your school for at least two consecutive years, moving on to your third year as of January 2026. Any questions about the application can be directed to Daria Taylor. Please share your nomination with Daria at daria_c_taylor@mcpsmd.org by [check back for deadline].
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2025-2026 Walker Award Recipients
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2025-2026 Walker Award Recipient
Mill Creek Towne Elementary School Principal Robyn Shinn and Assistant Principal Rachel Cravath have won the Nancy C. Walker Award for Outstanding Support to a Library Media Program for the 2025–2026 school year. They were nominated by school media specialist Bonnie Hines. This award is presented annually by the Montgomery County Educational Media Staff Association (MCEMSA) to highlight the role of administrative leaders in supporting library media centers.
Each year, Shinn and Cravath allocate additional funds to the media center from their instructional materials fund. This includes additional inclusive books to support the curriculum. Hines notes: “I have always been trusted to select the resources our school needs without question.”
Shinn and Cravath actively look for opportunities to collaborate to showcase library resources. Three years ago, the school used grant money to institute schoolwide lessons that would foster community and a love of reading amongst students and staff. They centered the lessons on the book All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold. They collaborated to create quarterly schoolwide lessons using the book to focus on community, identity, reflection and celebrating our strengths.
“Few libraries are lucky enough to have the full support and trust of one administrator in a school, so I am incredibly lucky to have two,” Hines said. “Robyn Shinn and Rachel Cravath are true champions of the library, advocating for our library program every chance they can.”
Source: MCPS Bulletin - April 22, 2026
2023-2024 Walker Award Recipient
DuFief Elementary School Principal Gregg Baron has won the Nancy C. Walker Award for Outstanding Support to a Library Media Program for the 2023–2024 school year. Baron was nominated by school media specialist Tara Eliason. This award is presented annually by the Montgomery County Educational Media Specialists Association (MCEMSA) to highlight the role of administrative leaders in supporting library media centers.
Baron has been a strong advocate of the media program since arriving at DuFief. Because he ensures that Eliason can attend weekly planning meetings, she works with all grade-level teams and creates media lessons and projects that support curriculum content, expand technology use and extend learning in the classroom. Baron champions collaborative planning and co-teaching, which increases student understanding in content areas and helps students develop new skills. By promoting the media program, insisting on co-teaching and planning and understanding the media standards, Baron brings all stakeholders on board.
The pair discuss all aspects of the media program, including scheduling, personnel, finance and technology. He routinely advocates for much-needed improvements in the media center.
Baron champions the media program in many ways. During pre-service week, the pair showed staff the value and importance of co-teaching and planning between the media specialist and grade-level teams. When there were parental concerns after DuFief rolled out LGBTQ+ books, Baron convened the classroom teacher and Eliason to present the materials to those parents and made sure Eliason was not placed in an untenable situation.
Baron “is always happy to back me up and support me whenever needed,” Eliason said.
Source: MCPS Bulletin - May 1, 2024
