Awards Update from OLC’s Executive Director

Throughout its history, the Ohio Library Council has been recognizing and honoring exceptional members of the library community for their incredible work and commitment to the profession. I’m excited to announce that the OLC Board of Directors has approved an updated Awards and Honors program for 2023.

Last year, the Awards and Honors Committee carefully evaluated our current awards program and discussed the alignment of award criteria with organizational goals and relevance to today’s public library community. The committee recommended that several awards be consolidated and renamed to better reflect the various people who work in or support Ohio’s public libraries. As a result, several awards were combined, a new award was created, and others were expanded to include more public library staff and volunteers.

A tremendous amount of effort goes into our Awards and Honors program and throughout the process, we have learned that it is important to create awards that drive our organization’s mission and celebrate the people who make Ohio’s public libraries successful and vibrant. I want to thank the members of the Awards and Honors Committee for their thoughtful consideration and countless hours of hard work to update this program. I hope you will consider nominating a colleague or an entire team for an award this year.

Beginning February 15, the OLC will accept nominations in six organizational award categories:

• Hall of Fame Librarian
• Librarian of the Year
• Service Excellence Award
• Local Library Champion Award
• Emerging Leader Award
• Library Innovation Award

More information about each award is available on the OLC website at olc.org/about-us/awards. The deadline for nominations is April 30, 2023.

Sincerely,
Michelle Francis
Executive Director
Ohio Library Council