Liana Warnakulasooriya has won the Friends of the Franklin Library Scholarship in Memory of Wilma Winters. A 2024 graduate of Franklin High School, Liana recently received $1,000 from The Friends toward the cost of a college education.
Liana's winning entry was about how she found her voice through public speaking. "When speaking on stage, on trial, or in front of an audience, my deep tone turns into a blessing, allowing me to capture the attention of audience members and reach the back of every room."
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| David Djerf, president of Friends of the Franklin Library's board, recently presented Liana Warnakulasooriya with a check for winning the Friends' annual essay contest |
Liana wrote about how her younger self was reluctant to speak up, but she later participated in organized debates and taught others about public speaking. "My eighth-grade voice was full of sheepish insecurity, while my current voice is filled with confidence," Liana wrote.
A second-semester student at Northeastern University, Liana studies computer science and business.
Friends of the Franklin Library, an independent, non-profit organization committed to supporting the Franklin Public Library, established its scholarship program in 2014. The annual scholarship is part of several efforts undertaken to honor the late Wilma Winters, a longtime Franklin resident and library supporter. Winters, who had a long career in higher education, worked for many years as a librarian, including at Boston University Medical School and Harvard's School of Public Health. She spent her retirement years volunteering at the Franklin Public Library.
Friends of the Franklin Library has a long tradition of raising money to supplement library programs. In recent years, the group has purchased items for the Library of Things, tables and chairs for the main Reading Room, coordinated the creation of the brick patio at the School Street entrance, and provided funding for various library programs for adults, teens, children, and families.
