Westover’s Nancy Florio Honored with 2025 Marky Award
Director of the Adams Library Nancy Florio received the national honor of the 2025 Marky Award from the Association of Independent School Librarians (AISL).
Nancy is well-deserving of the Marky Award, given to individuals who have made lasting and significant contributions to the AISL and to the field of librarianship in independent schools.
“It’s especially meaningful knowing that the recipients are selected by past Marky Award winners—librarians I’ve long admired and deeply respect,” Nancy shared. “Being recognized by such an esteemed group is a tremendous honor. So much of what we do as librarians happens quietly, behind the scenes, so to have that work acknowledged in this way means more to me than I can fully express.”’
Chosen for her guiding force and steady hand within AISL, it is no surprise to Westover’s community that Nancy was given this honor as our community benefits daily from her thoughtful leadership and deep commitment to Westover’s mission.
In addition to her role as Director of the Adams Library and Maria Randall Allen ’42 Archives, Nancy is the faculty advisor for Westover’s student-run newspaper The Wick and teaches elective classes for students interested in the school’s history.
Get to Know Nancy in Her Own Words:
Where is your office? My office for the library is on the right as you enter, but you’ll rarely find me there. I am almost always at the front desk - it’s more fun there.
What year did you start at Westover? 2022
Favorite Westover meal: I love Frugal on Thursdays - Peter makes the best soups and the bread is to die for.
Favorite Westover tradition: Hands down, Lantern.
What is your favorite thing about working at Westover? I love the students and the community. The students are so warm and friendly and I love talking to them—at the front desk or anywhere I am on campus. The faculty and staff are also super supportive of each other. I love hearing what they are working on and especially love when they bring their classes in for research to look for an independent reading book or simply to spread out and work.
Is there anything you would like to say about, or to, the Association of Independent School Librarians? As a solo librarian, during my day I’m not able to have a chat with another librarian, someone with whom I can discuss programs, displays, trends in books, etc., so having access to so many experienced, creative, and generous librarians has been a professional life-line. We have a very active listserv—think of a group chat with hundreds of members—who are more than willing to help with any question, ranging from readers advisory to research lessons to suggestions for resources, etc. I always look forward to our annual conferences and the opportunity to connect with some of the smartest, well-informed, and yes, loudest people I know. We always say, if you’ve never been shushed by a student, are you really even a librarian?
What are you looking forward to this school year? I'm excited to be teaching a new class called News Decoder. In an age where it's increasingly tough to tell fact from fiction and real news from misinformation, I think it will be both important and fun to dive into current events and learn how to sort credible information from noise.
I'm also looking forward to welcoming more students into the Archives. It's always rewarding to see how curious they are about the school's history—especially when they realize that, across generations, Westover students have shared many of the same experiences and interests.
What is a book you would recommend to the Westover community? That is a really tough question. I have so many. A few come to mind: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Peace Like a River by Leif Enger, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, and the trilogy Station Eleven, The Glass Hotel, and Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel, A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronté, anything by Jane Austin, someone please stop me.
What inspires your work at Westover? I am a very curious person. I love learning and being open to new ideas. This past year I rekindled my love of Raku pottery and really enjoyed sharing that with students when art teacher Sara Poskas and I co-led a Westover Institute. This summer I will be doing a lot of Raku firing and am taking a workshop with renowned potter Jon Townley. I am also doing a number of one-day workshops exploring the AI trend and the role it plays in education.
Be Boldly You
Westover School admits students of any race, color, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, national and ethnic origin, or disability to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. As a gender-diverse girls school, Westover welcomes applicants and students who are assigned female at birth and/or identify as girls. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, national and ethnic origin, disability, or any other status protected by applicable law in the administration of its educational policies, admissions and financial aid policies, and athletic or other school-administered programs.