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Ryan Marquis, a Chisago Lakes Middle Schooler, now has a collection of books dedicated to his memory on the shelves of the middle school media center. His mom’s employer-- a publishing group-- proposed the donation and a cooperative effort with school officials and family members made it a reality.

At a gathering November 18 for all those involved, the books were accepted and displayed for the first time.

Ryan Marquis was killed in a car-pedestrian collision April 2003 near the Lindstrom Middle School. He is the son of Sue and Jeff Marquis.

About 30 people came together for the presentation of the book collection from Lerner Publishing Group of Minneapolis.

Adam Lerner explained that Ryan’s mother works in a graphics division of the company and that Ryan was an enthusiastic model for the publishing group’s book art.

Lerner said Ryan would be proud to have this collection for all his classmates to enjoy.

The books were chosen to reflect Ryan’s interests, Lerner added. They include the classroom series on presidential leaders; books on ancient technology; hobby and sports books and geography. Ryan is actually pictured on the cover of Wheels and Axles, and he’s in numerous photos on inside pages of the teen-oriented books.

Lerner Publishing Group plans to continue to add to the collection as new editions come out, and special book series grow.

Adam Lerner is pictured presenting the collection to Middle School Student Council President Julie Arnold and Vice-president Ariel Novak.

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