Rogers Memorial Library Staff Honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day With 'I Have A Dream' Video

Rogers Memorial Library will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day by releasing a pre-recorded reading of his “I Have a Dream” speech on the morning of January 18. Staff members have come together to read the speech, and their voices will be paired with historical photos of Dr. King alongside modern-day images of the local community.

The library is known for its annual breakfast on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but the event was canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The occasion has traditionally been an opportunity for community members to enjoy a meal together, listen to speakers reflect on Dr. King’s life, and sing songs from the civil rights movement.

“After 18 years, I kept thinking we can’t ignore it this year,” Programming Department Supervisor Yvette Postelle said. The breakfast was the “brainchild” of William Murphy, a former library trustee who died in 2019, Director Liz Burns said.

“The MLK breakfast is one of the finest programs our library offers,” said the library’s board president, Susan E. Johns. “It affords us a real connection to the community.”

Ms. Postelle created the concept for the video project over a month ago, and shortly after approached Ms. Burns with the idea. “I said absolutely!” Ms. Burns said. “[It] is an awesome way of continuing the tradition of the library recognizing the importance of this day in our community.”

The Family Department will also release a “Read-A-Loud” children’s book rendition of the speech, which will be available on January 18 on the library’s website and Facebook page.

After sending an email about the project, Ms. Postelle received widespread interest from employees throughout varying departments in the library who wanted to participate. Over 20 staff members agreed to read and record different sections of the speech, including two trustees and the director.

The annual breakfast has always been attended by staff from all divisions, but the Programming Department is typically responsible for organizing and planning the event, Reference Department Supervisor Beth Gates said. The video — even in the time of COVID — allowed for more collaboration than possible in other years. “This is even more involvement on the staff than it normally is,” she said.

After a failed attempt to record the speech remotely, Ms. Postelle set up a laptop in an office in the library for staff members to read their sections. She would make sure they understood how to use the technology, and then she would leave the room so that they could remove their masks to record.

Ms. Gates and other members of the reference department are responsible for the tech side of the project. “We are really excited to have a part of that, too,” she said. “Of putting it all together, putting everyone’s voices together, and, you know, making it something for the public.” Steve Alcalde, a reference and technology librarian, will be responsible for editing the final video.

The reference team has sourced images of Dr. King from the Library of Congress, and the rest of the photos will be of events and moments from the community over the last year, with a particular emphasis on the pandemic.

“I really wanted to show the ’60s and King and then move it to today,” Ms. Postelle said. “We’ve had so many heroes with COVID, and nurses and first responders, so I kind of wanted to move it in that direction.”

She was inspired by a speech given by Hortense Gordon — who had previously been her third grade teacher — at the annual library breakfast in 2006, she recalled, which had been presented alongside various photos.

In the midst of the civil rights movement, Ms. Gordon became the first Black teacher in the Southampton School District in 1966, according to previous reporting from The Southampton Press. She worked at the library post-retirement, and her speech left a lasting impact on many of her fellow colleagues.

“She really spoke about what Martin Luther King’s dream was, and how we can exhibit it today, and being community oriented, and taking care of each other, and being active politically [and] socially,” Ms. Postelle said. “It was just a brilliant speech.”

The library was forced to close for nearly a month-and-a-half due to the pandemic, which increased patrons’ reliance on the library’s social media accounts. The growing engagement on those pages will help the library spread the video’s message with the community. “It’s something that can be viewed for a long, long time, and not just on the day,” Ms. Gates said.

The video will be available on the library’s website (myrml.org), or Youtube channel, on the morning of January 18. The library is continuing to operate with restricted capacity, with “Browse and Borrow” and limited computer services still available.