McNamara Scholarship Winners
The Theatre Library Association is pleased to sponsor the Brooks McNamara Performing Arts Librarian Scholarship in memory of the achievements of this beloved theater historian, scholar, educator, and mentor.
2025
Courtney Thomas is a second-year MLIS student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She holds a B.A. in Theatre & Dance and a B.A. Humanities with minors in English and Art History and certificates in Museum Studies and Core Texts & Ideas. Her previous work includes roles at the Library of Congress, Ballroom Marfa, Crystal Bridges, Mass MoCA, and other cultural institutions. Her research and writing on the intersection of art and politics has appeared in academic journals and at conferences, as well as in publications including Slate, Glasstire, Texas Monthly, Texas Highways, and others.
2020
Megan Ralston-Munger recently graduated with her Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in June 2020. Having previously graduated summa cum laude with her Bachelor of Music degree from California State University, Fullerton, she has drawn extensively on her experience in the performing arts as she pursues a new career in librarianship.
During her undergraduate studies in vocal performance, Ralston-Munger received the Jane Rodriguez Memorial Scholarship in 2013 and 2014. Additionally, she won second place in the Senior Women division of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Los Angeles Chapter Competition in 2014, and first prize in the Best Handel Performance division of the Great Composers Competition series in 2017. After an incredible journey of music study that took her from singing opera in Hawai’i to a choir in Paris, Ralston-Munger decided to pursue a career in performing arts librarianship to continue drawing on her love of performance, but in an academic setting where her affinity for academia could also shine.
During the pursuit of her MLIS, Ralston-Munger worked to achieve a varied and inclusive look into the many different kinds of librarianship by pursuing different volunteer and internship opportunities. Her internships included working in the youth services department at Ovitt Family Community Library, working with the performing arts research librarian at University of California, Irvine, and finally an internship at the University Library at California State University, Long Beach.
Ralston-Munger is now the librarian at Ybarra Academy of Arts and Technology, where she is focusing on making the collection as diverse and accessible as possible.
2020 Professional Awards Committee: Drew Barker (Chair), Susan Brady, Jeannie Chen, Karen Nickeson, Kevin Winkler.
2018
Jeannie Chen, University of California, Los Angeles
Presented award at the Café of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, New York City, October 18, 2019.
2017
McNamara Scholarship not awarded.
2016
Megan Mitchell, University of Washington
Presented award at the Café of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, New York City, October 14, 2016.
2015
McNamara Scholarship not awarded
2014
Selena Chau, San Jose State University
Presented award in the Bruno Walter Auditorium, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, New York City, October 17, 2014.
2013
McNamara Scholarship not awarded.
2012
Lisbeth Wells-Pratt, School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Presented award in the Bruno Walter Auditorium, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, October 12, 2012
2011
Abigail Garnett, Palmer School of Library and Information Science, Long Island University
Presented award in the Bruno Walter Auditorium, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, November 4, 2011