While I was going through a rough time this summer I found myself running out of ways to cope. The usual things weren’t always working.
Lying in a hotel room in what felt like a chaotic and malevolent world, I reached out to an old friend: picture books.
Using the Libby App, which our awesome library system makes available to us, I experimented with different ways to search children’s picture books. Yes, they really have picture books on Libby. I was surprised but very grateful.
Why didn’t I just go to the library and check things out? Well, when you are experiencing an onslaught of anxiety at two in the morning, you need a more immediate plan of action. And something about paging through story after story - - immersed in colors and images and simple plot lines - - would gradually shift my state of being. The wild electrical storm in my brain would subside.
In the morning I’d find myself putting snippets of those magical worlds into my art journal, and even making up new ones.
I’ll be honest, some of those days and nights were so rough that I’d even read the book descriptions and view the samples provided when the books themselves weren’t available. Even a glimpse felt restorative.
This was my lifeline.
Eventually I discovered that YouTube often had read-alouds for books that weren’t available on Libby. And, if I felt up for a “busier” experience, old episodes of Reading Rainbow were on YouTube as well.
If you knew where this was heading, award yourself cool points.
About three weeks ago, the Reading Rainbow reboot debuted with Mychal Threets as the host. I just read Threets described as a “social media librarian” which gave me the icks. We are not talking about some kind of overhyped internet influencer here. If you’ve followed his storyline you’ll know Threets worked in a real library before he created a social media presence.
Social media certainly made him more well-known but the onslaught of internet “fame” triggered issues with his emotional/mental health. As a result, Threets left his library job and took a break from library advocacy.
I remember feeling sad at the time. Threets’ enthusiasm and all-around wholesome worldview had been no match for the destructive forces of social media.
But…
It wasn’t all that long before he found a way to spread library love as he partnered with PBS Kids as a library ambassador. Saying that he’s a “social media librarian” is turning a three dimensional journey into a flat and public relations-approved cartoon image.
What we know about Mychal Threets is more than his love of libraries and joy in books. We know he is earnest, enthusiastic, ready to be surprised by new discoveries and to welcome new experiences. We also know he is open about his struggles and that he is fragile.
Struggle and fragility are not often associated with people with important missions or those we feel we can admire or trust. We don’t allow or accept that.
But libraries do. And books do - - and most especially picture books.
All Are Welcome, for example.
Everyone needs places where they feel accepted. We all need to find those tiny threads that tether us to safety. For me this summer that place was in picture books.
I guess that’s why seeing Mychal Threets take on this new venture is especially meaningful to me. His participation is a very public way to validate the truth that people can struggle, be fragile, and also be incredible gifted and capable. Even if you are imperfect or not like everyone else, you can be the right person for the job and people can learn from you.
Imagine that.
Happy Friday. Here’s a good start for your day.
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