Mona Kerby, the L. Stanley Bowlsbey Endowed Chair

Mona Kerby is the L. Stanley Bowlsbey Endowed Chair at McDaniel College. She coordinates the School Librarianship program and also serves as coordinator of the Writing for Children and Young Adults and Learning Technologies Specialist certificate programs.

Dr. Kerby began her career as a kindergarten teacher with the Arlington Independent School District in Arlington, Texas, and was a librarian before coming to teach at McDaniel in 1994. In 2012, she earned a prestigious Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program three-year grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to fund 12 full scholarships for teachers working in underserved regions in Maryland to earn master’s degrees in School Librarianship from McDaniel.

An award-winning author of 15 books ranging from fiction and non-fiction to picture books, including “Owney, the Mail-Pouch Pooch,” which earned the California Young Readers Award and the Vermont Red Clover Award, she was awarded the college's Distinguished Scholars Award for the fall 2023 semester to work on writing and publishing a science-fiction comedy novel geared towards third- to fifth-grade readers.

She has served as a member of numerous professional associations, including the American Association of School Librarians, Association of Library Service to Children, International Association of School Librarians, the Maryland Association of School Librarians, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She previously served on the selection committee of the United States Board on Books for Young People.

In 1993, she was named a National Endowment for the Humanities Teacher Scholar and in 2020, she was the recipient of the American Association of School Librarians’ Distinguished Service Award. She was also honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, Texas Woman’s University, in 2022.

Dr. Kerby holds a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Spanish from Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas, a master’s degree in Counseling Education from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Library Science from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas.