Mychal Threets is a librarian. He grew up in Fairfield, CA- right between

Sacramento and San Francisco. He grew up in libraries as a homeschool Kid.

Mychal loves stories! He enjoys learning something new every day, and that

includes learning why people love their local library. He utilizes social media

to share the stories of library kids and library grown-ups that he encounters in library land.

He got his first library card at the age of 5 and was hooked on libraries from

there. He got his first library job as a library shelver at the library he grew up

in and worked his way up to become Supervising Librarian of that very same Library.

He got his Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of

Phoenix and his Master’s in Library and Information Science degree from

San Jose State University. He is proud to be a 2023 recipient of the

American Library Association’s “I Love My Librarian” Award!

He is very open about his mental health. He talks about it in hopes that it’ll

help others in their mental health journey. He is adamant about encouraging

people to believe him when he says he’s happy they are here.

When Mychal isn’t at the library or talking about libraries, he’s often with his

family, friends, or troublesome cats- Machine Gun Kitty and Kissin’ Kat Barlow.”

Follow Mychal on Instagram and Tik Tok to see some of the amazing work he is doing,

and the joy he spreads!

Instagram: @mychal3ts Tik Tok: @mychal3ts

Join us in Rochester to hear Mychal on Thursday, October 24, 2024!

Back in October of 1922, the MLA Conference was held in Duluth at the Spalding hotel (now where the Ordean building is) for the 30th annual conference.

Over 150 library staff from across MN attended.

Thank you to Duluth Public Library staff for finding this history!

We had an amazing and engaged turnout and the chat was filled with insightful commentary and suggestions for anti-racism resources. The discussion covered both Internal Work on Your Own Biases and External Work to Create Effective Change. The Internal Work discussion included comments about how "Feeling uncomfortable is good for white people," "More listening...less defending," and the suggestion to "Do not center yourself, don’t tone police, apologize authentically." External Work insights included working to diversify librarianship, examining library policies for racial bias, investing in BIPOC vendors, and to "Think of yourself as a wedge. Where is that little crack that you can begin to apply some force?"

Three documents have been added to the MLA Library Resources webpage that may be of interest to attendees (and those who missed the conversation): A Resource List and Notes which includes comments and suggestions from the chat about internal and external work and a list of resources recommended by participants; Amy Boese's How to Be a White Librarian Ally notes, and the slides from the conversation. 

Thank you all for a great conversation. Let's keep having them!