Chris Olson honored by the Minnesota Library Association in recognition of his leadership and dedication to the organization
Chris Olson was recently awarded the Minnesota Library Association (MLA) President’s Award at the Association’s annual conference, held this year in Mankato. This award is presented in recognition of significant and major contributions of members to the work of the Minnesota Library Association.
Chris Olson was selected as the recipient of this award for his dedicated service to the association during 2014, and throughout his career. Chris passed away on September 28th, 2014 and this award recognizes his contributions as an active MLA member and advocate for Minnesota libraries. Chris was part of the Minnesota library community for
nearly 30 years, and was the 2013 Library Friend of the Year. Chris had served as MLA president, and was also on the MLA Board as Intellectual Freedom Chair and American Library Association Chapter Councilor. During this past year, Chris worked with colleagues at Minitex, the State Library Office, and many other library groups, to develop the Explore eBooks Minnesota Summit at St. Catherine University in August. Chris’ career exemplified the MLA conference theme, “Better Together,” and led to his recognition with this 2014 President’s Award.
Chris Olson was posthumously honored at the 2014 Minnesota Library Association Annual Conference on October 8. Michele McGraw, 2014 MLA President, also shared this information at the Celebration of Life Memorial Service in honor of Chris D. Olson on October 30, 2014.