How will you celebrate the life and work Martin Luther King, Jr. on January 16?
One suggestion we received was to read a book about him.
The following discoveries refer to adult reading level titles.
Two of the best are the Pulitzer Prize winning biography, Bearing the Cross, (1986) by David J. Garrow. It's the most comprehensive book written on his life. Garrow had access to King's personal papers, FBI documents, and conducted over 700 interviews. We were discouraged to learn the paperback is the only edition still in print. Ok, we'll get it from one of the county libraries. There aren't any print editions in the system. There's one audio book available from Hoopla, but not all OCPL libraries have Hoopla. Wow. Just wow.
The other one is, The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement (2013), by Taylor Branch. It contains selections from Taylor Branch's trilogy. At 210 pages, it's doable. Fortunately, there are seven copies in the system, but only one is checked out. Just one.
The three volumes in the Taylor Branch trilogy are:
Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954 -1963 (1988)
- There are five hardcover copies in the system, none are checked out.
Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963 -1965 (1998)
- Two hardcover copies, neither is checked out.
At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-1968 (2006)
- There are three hardcover copies, one is checked out.
There aren't any paperback, Large Print, or audiobook editions in the system.
We find the lack of availability, and that only two of the ten trilogy copies are checked out, as of this date, surprising and discouraging.
The Onondaga County Public Libraries (OCPL) is one of 23 public library systems chartered by the Board of Regents of the State of New York. It operates the Central Library and ten city branch libraries. Twenty-one independent libraries in suburban Onondaga County are members of OCPL.
