MLK Day 2020: Here’s What’s Open, Closed In San Rafael

SAN RAFAEL, CA—Martin Luther King Jr. Day falls on Monday, Jan. 20 this year, and a variety of services will be closed in San Rafael on the day.

King’s birthday is Jan. 15, but the federal holiday celebrating the civil rights leader is observed on the third Monday of January each year.

Here’s a breakdown of how the holiday could impact your routine.

• All Marin County public library branches will be closed on Monday, Jan 20 for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
• Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday is a federal holiday and all U.S. Postal Service post offices will be closed. No mail will be delivered or sent.
• San Rafael City Schools will be closed.
• Banks will be closed.
• Publix and Kroger stores will be open.
• Emergency services remain available.
• City hall and all non-essential city facilities will be closed on Monday, Jan. 21 in observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday.
• Check with local movie theaters, but most will be open.

The history of the MLK holiday in America is a complicated one.

Almost immediately after King’s assassination in 1968, activists began pushing for a holiday celebrating his Jan. 15 birthday. However, the official national holiday wasn’t signed into law until 1983 by President Ronald Reagan.

The first federal MLK Day was observed on the third Monday of January in 1986, but many states held out. Arizona didn’t recognize the day until 1992, when the state lost its rights to host the Super Bowl after voters in Arizona failed to make the day a paid holiday.

The last state to adopt the holiday? New Hampshire, in 1999.