NORWAY — Staff at the Norway Memorial Library are urging people to commemorate Martin Luther King Day Jr. on Monday by joining the nationwide volunteer program called a Day of Service.

The program matches people’s skills with volunteer work at nonprofit organizations in downtown Norway.

Monday marks the 25th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which commemorates the day of his birth, Jan. 15, 1929.

The Day of Service calls for Americans to work together to provide solutions to the country’s most pressing national problems, according to the program’s website at http://mlkday.gov.

The program was initiated by Congress in 1994 to commemorate the national holiday.

“This is the third year” the library has participated in the Day of Service, Allison Rosenblatt, young adult services librarian, said. “Last year was postponed because of snow, but the first year we had 22 people sign up.”  

She attributed Norway’s large turnout in the first year to an emphasis on volunteerism by then President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, who spent the afternoon before his inauguration volunteering at a homeless shelter and other nonprofit organizations. He asked his fellow citizens to do the same.

Rosenblatt said the event is open to adults and teens in grades 7 to 12.

This year, nonprofit organizations involved in the program include the Unitarian Universalist Church, where volunteers will bake pies; the Norway Historical Society, where volunteers will help file and do other paperwork; the Fare Share Food Cooperative, where volunteers will paint walls; and the Norway Memorial Library.

Volunteers are asked to meet at the library on Main Street at 12:30 p.m. Monday for a brief introduction before they head to their designated sites at 12:45 p.m. for two hours of work. They will return to the library at 3:15 p.m. for reflection and refreshments.

Volunteers are asked to call the Norway Memorial Library at 743-5309 to sign up or to get more information. The deadline to register is 10 a.m. Monday.

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