University Library News

January 20 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a federal holiday falling on the third Monday of January, near King’s birthday on January 15, 1929. The holiday was established in 1983 after a long struggle, and in 1994 Congress designated the holiday as a national day of service. Congress at that time charged the Corporation for National and Community Service with leadership of this effort; the MLK Day of Service is part of the President’s call to service initiative, United We Serve. The CNCS’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service website contains toolkits and other resources for locating and carrying out service projects for January 20. This year will mark the Day of Service’s twentieth anniversary; on January 15, King would have been 85 years old.

The Georgia State University Library has many resources for learning more about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, work, and impact. Newest resources include:

• Clayborne Carson, Martin’s Dream: My Journey and the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.: A Memoir (2013)
• Robert K. Vischer, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Morality of Legal Practice: Lessons in Love and Justice (2013)
• Bidyut Chakrabarty, Confluence of Thought: Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013)
• James Karales; Julian Cox with Rebekah Jacob and Monica Karales, Controversy and Hope: The Civil Rights Photographs of James Karales (2013)
• Robert E. Birt, ed. The Liberatory Thought of Martin Luther King Jr.: Critical Essays on the Philosopher King (2012)
• Stuart Wexler and Larry Hancock, The Awful Grace of God: Religious Terrorism, White Supremacy, and the Unsolved Murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. (2012)
• Michael G. Long, Martin Luther King, Jr., Homosexuality and the Early Gay Rights Movement: Keeping The Dream Straight? (2012)
• Martin Luther King, Jr., “Thou, Dear God”: Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits (2012)
• Martin Luther King, Jr., “In a Single Garment of Destiny”: A Global Vision of Justice (2012)

Online resources include:

• The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (King Center)
• Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site
• Civil Rights Digital Library (part of the Digital Library of Georgia)
• History Vault: Black Freedom I and II (GSU affiliates only; range of primary sources relating to the Civil Rights Movement)

Looking for more? The GSU Library has many other resources by and about King.

• To find resources by King, type “King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968″ into the search box on the Catalog tab or the Advanced Discover Search box, and select “Author” from the dropdown menu.
• To find resources about King, try the same search, but select “Subject” from the dropdown menu.