Social Media's Fave Librarian Mychal Threets Hosting 'Reading Rainbow'
Social Media’s Favorite Librarian Mychal Threets To Host ‘Reading Rainbow’
Children’s reading and literacy just got a big boost in the form of a social media sensation. Mychal Threets, the librarian turned social media reading advocate, has been announced as the new host of the reboot of Reading Rainbow.
The original show, hosted by LeVar Burton, ran on PBS from 1983 to 2006. It was a popular children’s show that encouraged reading. Burton would read from a children’s book each episode, accompanied by illustrations. There were also field trips to places in the books and children who provided reviews of their favorites. It helped those books sell, and was backed by grants from the Department of Education aimed at reducing the summer dip in children’s reading and literacy.
Over the years, the show would earn 250 awards, including a Peabody Award and 26 Emmy Awards. In 2023, Burton was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities medal by former president Joe Biden. Although the actor has a distinguished career, including the groundbreaking role of Kunta Kinte on Roots and as Georgi LaForge on Star Trek: The Next Generation, during the awards ceremony he was asked to sing the first lines of the Reading Rainbow theme.
Threets became a social media sensation in 2020 while working at a library in Solano County, California. He shared his love for reading and supported anti-bullying efforts. His Instagram following grew to almost 900,000 followers before he resigned from the library last March due to mental health issues.
He was asked to host Reading Rainbow without an audition.
I honestly thought they were lying when they first reached out to me, that it was all a trick,” Threets told the New York Times. “I was like, ‘OK, I’ll play along.’”
Buffalo-Toronto public media, which produced the original series, co-produced the new show, which will run on the Kidzuko app and air on YouTube. There are four episodes in the first season, which will include guest stars like John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Gabrielle Union. Although no second season has been announced yet, there is hope that one will follow.
The first episode aired on Oct. 4.
“All I’ve ever sought to do is amplify library people and library kids,” Threets said. “And remind them that every single one of them are readers, they’re all capable, they’re all worthy.”
Watch the trailer below:
Social Media’s Favorite Librarian Mychal Threets To Host ‘Reading Rainbow’ was originally published on cassiuslife.com
