This partial transcript was computer-generated. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.
Alexis Madrigal: Welcome to Forum. I’m Alexis Madrigal. This morning, we’re talking with a homegrown Bay Area star librarian. Yes — Mychal Threets is from Fairfield, grew up a library kid, and now he’s a San José State–degree-toting librarian. He started working back home in Fairfield at the library, and a few years ago, he began posting videos brimming with enthusiasm and support for all kinds of readers and the books they love — videos that sounded like this:
Mychal Threets (clip): I believe that books aren’t just words and pages. They’re freedom. They’re belonging. They’re a reminder that you matter just the way you are.
Alexis Madrigal: His realness and gentle intensity hit. He became a social media sensation, and now he’s been named the new host of a rebooted Reading Rainbow — the childhood-defining show for many a nerd like myself. Welcome to Forum, Mychal.
Mychal Threets: Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited. Thank you for that introduction. I’m excited to talk about all those things and so much more. Hopefully, you all don’t get sick and tired of me delivering my TikToks.
Alexis Madrigal: I just love books so much. How did your love of books get started?
Mychal Threets: It started as early as I can remember. I always talk about how I loved having a library card at the age of five, but I was at the library reading books way before that. My mom and dad, my grandparents — they always instilled a love of reading in us. They said reading is important; you have to try to read everything. My dad would say, if you want to watch TV for an hour — Wishbone, Reading Rainbow, Mister Rogers — then you have to read for an hour. So it all started thanks to my family.
And because I was homeschooled, we were raised in the library. We weren’t there every single day, but every week — those homeschool kids, those “library kids.” The library has always been all I’ve ever known, and having a library card has always been the most special thing in the world to me. My local librarians celebrated that. They said, “Good for you, congratulations — now you can try to read everything.” And I did! My goal as a kid was to read every book in the children’s section.
Alexis Madrigal: Wow.
Mychal Threets: It was silly, yes — but those authors and illustrators kept coming out with new books, so my personal challenge never stood a chance.
Alexis Madrigal: Do you remember the first book you really loved? The first book you’d call your favorite?
Mychal Threets: Probably Where the Wild Things Are. I used to go around the house yelling at my mom and dad, “Let the wild rumpus start!” And they’d say, “Not today, Mychal. No wild rumpus right now.”
Also The Monster at the End of This Book — which is one of my tattoos. My grandma, my mom’s mom, loved doing the voice of Grover. She’d ham it up, have so much fun — and I think hearing books read aloud like that made those stories my absolute favorites. But I’m a typical librarian: it’s so hard for me to pick just one.
Alexis Madrigal: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense — especially kids’ books. You’ve got all the classics, plus a new wave of children’s authors writing so much interesting stuff. Do you like the classics — your Margaret Wise Browns — or are you more into the new generation of children’s book authors?
Mychal Threets: I have to cop out and choose both. I love Margaret Wise Brown, Ezra Jack Keats. I grew up loving Lois Lowry, Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, Louis Sachar, Christopher Paul Curtis. But I also love today’s authors — Mo Willems, Jon Klassen, Jason Reynolds, Kelly Yang, Raina Telgemeier — there are just so many.
For the longest time, there wasn’t enough representation in picture books. Libraries would audit their collections and find books about dinosaurs, monster trucks, animals — but not enough where all kids could see themselves. Now, more authors and illustrators are creating stories where everyone can belong. So yes, I love the old books — but we’re in such a unique moment for literature and literacy. It’s amazing to see what’s happening for today’s bookworms, book dragons, and library kids.
Alexis Madrigal: We’re talking with Mychal Threets, librarian and literacy advocate, Fairfield native. He’s got a new role as host of the revival of Reading Rainbow. We want to hear from you — have you been inspired by Mychal’s videos online? Maybe you’re a Reading Rainbow kid and want to share what it means to see the show come back for your kids or grandkids. The number is 866-733-6786. The email is forum@kqed.org. You can find us on BlueSky, Instagram, and our Discord community — we’re @KQEDForum.
So when did you know this was your path? Lots of kids grow up in libraries, but not all become librarians.
Mychal Threets: I get that question all the time, and I always say it’s not like I woke up one day and said, “Today’s the day — I’m going to apply to be a librarian.”
I had just returned to Fairfield after some things in my life didn’t work out. I was very depressed, disappointed in myself — life wasn’t going the way I thought it would. I was spending every day at the library, using the computers, reading, trying to figure out my life. And I remember feeling so safe, so peaceful there. It just washed over me — this is the coolest place in the world.
One day, I went up to the person at the front desk and asked, “How do you work for the library? Can you work for the library?” I thought maybe it was a volunteer thing. And she already had the job site open on her computer! She said, “I knew you were going to ask eventually — you’re here so often.” She helped me apply, and I became a library shelver — one of the entry-level jobs in the Solano County Library.
That’s where I discovered “library joy,” even before I knew what that meant. Everything I’d always loved about books, literacy, and my heroes — LeVar Burton, Reading Rainbow, Mister Rogers — it all came together: empathy, kindness, joy. I realized, maybe this is for me. I became a library assistant, got the job, went back to school, and the rest is history. And now, here we are talking about libraries.
Alexis Madrigal: What do you think is special about libraries as an institution in our modern world? We both have the same shirt that says in Spanish, “What’s more punk than the public library?” What is punk about the public library?
Mychal Threets: What’s punk about the public library is that it truly is for everybody.
For me, getting to continue the legacy of Reading Rainbow is so exciting — that rainbow represents a rainbow of possibilities. It says, “Follow the rainbow. Look to the other side.” After all the rain and clouds, the rainbow appears — with a color representing every single person. There’s hope in the impossible. And that’s what the library represents.
When I was a children’s librarian and supervising librarian, I saw the library as a true third space. You’d see everyone — gang members, garbage collectors, lawyers, grandparents, kids — all sitting in the same row of computers. Each with their own life, but all in one space. Some are checking email, applying for jobs, or even watching YouTube — which is why it’s so cool Reading Rainbow is on YouTube now. That’s where access lives.
Alexis Madrigal: It’s for everyone.
Mychal Threets: Exactly. It’s the last third space. There are no expectations. You can sit in the library from open to close, talk to the librarian, or mind your own business. There are books, musical instruments, board games, video games — sorry, grownups, but there are video games! There’s something for everybody.
My goal is always to turn people into bookworms or book dragons — people who hoard all the books — but it’s okay if you’re not. Maybe you’re autistic, have ADHD, or dyslexia. Maybe you’re still learning about yourself and aren’t confident in your reading ability. That’s why we promote e-books, audiobooks, graphic novels, comics — however you want to read. Whenever you’re ready, the library is there for you. And that’s what’s so punk and awesome about it — we’re not offended if you say, “I’m not ready.” We just say, “That’s okay — the library will be here when you are.”
Alexis Madrigal: Katie writes, “Tell Mychal my family appreciates him so much. We’ve been following him and are over the moon about Reading Rainbow. My adult daughter is a librarian now — we’re a library family.”
You’ve mentioned your background — part Caucasian, part Mexican, part Black. How does having that mix of heritages show up in the role you’re playing for kids out there?
Mychal Threets: I think it just shows up in me being another person — a reflection of the real world. Especially in California, but really everywhere, there are so many of us from different experiences and backgrounds. We all have something that makes us who we are.
In a role like Reading Rainbow host, I’m not necessarily talking about being Black, Mexican, or white — but I hope kids watching on YouTube see themselves in me. They see the frizzy afro, the headband, the funny shirts, the tattoos — and they see connection. They see me interacting with the kids in the episodes — the true stars of the show.
I’m just being myself, the person my parents and grandparents raised me to be, and I hope that makes kids think, “Hey, that’s possible.” Representation doesn’t always need to be spoken; sometimes it’s just shown. That’s what Reading Rainbow is all about — access, belonging, and joy for everybody.
Alexis Madrigal: We’re talking with Mychal Threets, librarian and new host of the Reading Rainbow revival. We’ll be back with more right after the break.