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Librarian's Joy: How Libraries Saved My Life
2 Mar
Summary
- Mychal Threets hosts the rebooted Reading Rainbow and has 850,000 TikTok followers.
- Libraries were crucial for homeschooling and provided a sanctuary for Threets.
- He cherishes his grandmother's library card from the Jim Crow era.
Mychal Threets, a prominent librarian and social media personality, is the host of the recently revived Reading Rainbow series on PBS. He also authored the children's book "I'm So Happy You're Here: A Celebration of Library Joy." Threets, based in California, has amassed over 850,000 followers on TikTok, where he openly discusses his mental health journey and the profound impact of reading.
His deep affection for libraries stems from childhood, where his mother utilized local library resources for homeschooling him and his siblings. Threets describes libraries as sanctuaries and safe places, integral to his upbringing and his mother's teaching confidence.
He shared a poignant story about his grandparents, who faced segregation and were denied library access in Arkansas. Threets now proudly keeps his grandmother's San Jose Public Library card, a significant keepsake representing literacy's triumph over adversity.
Threets' personal mission is to foster a love for libraries in all children, defining a "library kid" as the most joyful version of oneself at the library. He asserts that libraries serve as crucial safe havens for mental health, stating, "The library saved my life" during periods of severe anxiety and depression.
