CURRENT POSITION Librarian, Solano County Library, CA (FORMERLY) DEGREE MLIS, San José State University, 2018 FOLLOW Instagram: @mychal3ts; cli.org Photo courtesy of Mychal Threets

Social Media Storyteller

Gen X-ers and Millennials had Mister Rogers. For kids today (and, let’s face it, their grownups, too), there’s a new caring adult who wants them to know they are valued—and he’s a librarian.

Mychal Threets, whose earnest TikTok videos have logged millions of views, never intended to become a viral hit. He started out sharing stories that epitomized what he calls “library joy” to inspire people to visit their library. He ended up capturing hearts across social media.

Threets is a true library kid who remembers setting a personal goal to read every book in his branch’s children’s section (“I failed miserably,” he notes). He discovered that the library was also where he felt safe. “The library was the place where I felt supported exploring who Mychal was going to become in the future,” he recalls.

Mental health is a topic Threets frequently discusses, citing his “mental health check-in team” and struggles with depression and anxiety as a way of inviting others to reflect on their own challenges. In March, Threets announced he was stepping away from his public library role to better address his needs. “Mental health struggles are very real for library workers,” he says. “As a supervising librarian I was constantly worried about the safety of my library workers, of library users…while trying to do all I could to enhance the wonderful service of my library colleagues. It was a lot to handle effectively.”

Taking a step back allows Threets to expand on his social media storytelling. He’s now meeting with legislators to campaign for library funding, visiting library teams to advocate for mental health in the workplace, and promoting programs like the Afro Library Revolution.

Threets, a library kid turned library grownup, has harnessed the power of positive stories to make libraries part of the pop culture conversation.