On a cold Sunday in February, I hopped onto a Zoom call with someone I felt I already knew.
About 8 months prior, this Solano County, California resident appeared on my “For You” page on Instagram Reels and TikTok. He shared joyful, heartfelt, hopeful stories of his work and the profound impact libraries had on his life.
So, I must admit that when Mychal Threets came into view on my laptop screen, I was a bit starstruck.
Seated in a staff work area, with a giant cutout of Bob Ross behind him, Mychal graciously squeezed an interview with me into his workday. He answered my questions about the impact his simple, yet profound stories have had on the public’s perception of libraries.
“March of 2023 is when I shared that first story of the library kid who asked me if I’m a boy librarian or a girl librarian,” recalled Mychal. “And I thought that was great. This is the 15 minutes of fame for libraries. Maybe a few more people will get library cards. But it just kept on going, and I’ve just been sharing daily stories and affirmations ever since.”
One of Mychal’s earliest memories is from age three when his mother took him and his siblings to the library to get books. At the age of 5, he got his first library card. But Mychal did not aspire to be a librarian.
“I wanted to be an astronaut, a firefighter, or a police officer,” chuckled Mychal. “I never saw any men behind the library desk. I never saw any people of color behind the library desk.”
“I was struggling, waiting for my next career path. I was at the local library trying to think of my next steps. And I was like, let me ask the person at the desk about how a person ends up working for the library. She already had the site pulled up. She was like, ‘I knew you’re going to ask that soon enough.’”
In 2018, Mychal became a children’s librarian. He loved the silly, carefree nature of the kids he worked with, and he wanted to share stories about the joy of his work with children. So, he started posting to Facebook. The response was positive.
Then, during the 2020 pandemic, Mychal downloaded TikTok and Instagram and began experimenting with videos on those sites. But it wasn’t until March of 2023 that he started sharing those personal stories… and getting traction.
As of this writing, Mychal has more than 682,000 followers on Instagram and 680,000 followers on TikTok. His videos have gotten millions of views, and he’s been interviewed by the New York Times, Good Morning America, The Washington Post, and Huffington Post, among others. He received the “I Love My Librarian” award and the day before my interview with him, was the recipient of the Tri-City NAACP Unsung Shero/Hero Award.
It hasn’t been an easy road. Mychal is open about his struggles with mental health. And, as is the case for any internet star, he’s faced insults. But his thousands of fans were quick to come to his defense.
His reach extends beyond the normal library loyal crowds. I cannot count the number of non-library friends and family members who have sent me his videos, usually accompanied by the comment, “Have you seen this guy??”
“What I’ve achieved thus far, was never in my mind. I never thought it was a possibility,” admitted Mychal. “I didn’t think I’d go viral once, let alone several times. That has been a huge surprise.”
Mychal’s videos highlight his work and focus on “patron as hero” stories. Mychal explains how the library has impacted the community members he interacts with, in big and small ways.
He fiercely protects the privacy of his patrons, sharing his stories without using names or genders, instead calling his patrons “Library kids” or “Library adults.” He also says that technique prevents misgendering and disrespecting his patrons.
“Most library people don’t mind their stories being shared,” said Mychal. “I’m aware of the platform that I’ve grown. I know that it’s weird to have your story shared with the amount of people who follow me.”
Besides sharing his stories on social media and working full-time at the library, Mychal is working with author, influencer, and illustrator Blair Imani on an event in late March that will be a celebration of natural hair.
“We’re going to get a bunch of books donated celebrating hair love, and we’re just going to give them out to people who come to come to the event,” explained Mychal. “We’re going to have hopefully some very cool people present, including authors, illustrators, barbers, and hairdressers. It’s just a chance for people to celebrate their hair love, to get some free books, and celebrate literacy.”
“My other goal is that I just want everybody to get a library card if possible, and to fall in love with books. So, I’m trying to pursue a nonprofit LLC to celebrate literacy, celebrate our right to read, celebrate the joy of access to books, and just put books in the hands of kids and get them excited about reading.”
Mychal is a big fan of his own library on social media, but he also has praise for other libraries’ promotional work.
“Milwaukee Public Library is probably the best library on social media,” declared Mychal. “They just do such a wonderful job of following trends and then putting a library spin on it.”
“Harris County Library is in a similar vein. They also are very good at accepting being ‘cringe-worthy’ as a library system.”
“Storybook Maze is a street librarian in Baltimore, Maryland. She also has a fascinating job.”
“But otherwise, just BookTok and Bookstagram, in general, is just an easy way to find social media platforms doing great things for libraries, putting libraries on the map in the best way possible to remind people that everyone belongs in the library any different day.”
“I’m constantly impressed by the different libraries that tag me and want me to see their videos. People are doing such wonderful things for libraries and for books and literacy overall.”
As we wrapped up our interview so Mychal could set up a library program, he shared advice for library marketers.
PS You might also find this helpful
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It’s Not Personal: How to Deal with Negative Comments and Bad Online Reviews of Your Library
The lowest moment in my library career came about four years ago, when my library endured a year of bad press.
First, a local TV news station ran a story about drug overdoses at the library. Then, our administration briefly entertained the idea of selling a portion of our main library building to a developer, to raise funds for the renovation of other library branches in our system. You can imagine how the community surrounding the main library reacted.
Our marketing department handled the press coverage well. But, in the fallout, we noticed that the negative press coverage led to negative reviews of our library.
Our services hadn’t changed. Our commitment to the community hadn’t changed. But the negative news stories changed the public’s perception of us.
It played out several times a week when we would post announcements on social media. We were met with comments from people who used those posts to try and steer the conversation to the negative library coverage. I admit, it was exhausting and frustrating.
If you are lucky enough never to be the target of negative press coverage, your library will still have to deal with negative comments, one-star reviews, and NextDoor drama. Even when you are trying to make a difference in the community, you’ll be targeted by complainers.
Negativity is bad for you and bad for your library
Ignoring negative reviews and comments is not an option. They have the power to damage your library’s reputation. A study by Moz.com shows one negative review can drive as many as 30 people away from your library. The more negative reviews and comments you have, the more people you lose, according to the data.
Negative reviews can also hurt your library’s ranking in search. Search engines generally list the highest ranked organizations and businesses first.
What can you do?
It doesn’t matter if your library is giving away $10 bills with every checkout… someone is going to find something to complain about. They’ll probably do it online.
It’s hard to know how to handle the situation when an irate, antagonistic library user posts a negative review on a social media site or website. Your immediate reaction is to jump into firefighter mode, drag out the fully charged hose, and put out the flames… pronto.
But it’s important to take step back and see the opportunity in that negative review. It’s your chance to turn that angry user into an evangelist for your library.
If that sounds like an extreme possibility, I want you to read this post by Jay Baer. I’ve heard Jay speak at several conferences. He has taught me everything I know about turning negative reviews into positive customer experiences.
Create a process for responding
A plan for responding to negative reviews and comments is a form of a crisis communication plan. If you have a plan in place before you’re confronted with negativity, you can put your emotional reaction aside and respond calmly, rationally, and with empathy.
A thoughtful and measured response to a negative comment makes your library look human. When you respond to critics, you show that you value all your customers and their opinions. Your plan will have four components.
Respond as quickly as possible. It’s important to address the issue as soon as you can. Talk with staff and senior leaders about monitoring your social media channels and email as closely as you can. There should always be someone who can check the accounts, even at night or on the weekends. If you don’t, you’ll run the risk of other haters hijacking the thread and turning one bad review into a free-for-all.
Don’t censor. Unless the comment violates your social media or website standards of behavior, don’t hide the comment.
If the problem cannot be solved easily online, take it offline. Apologize and address the complainer with empathy, then ask them to contact you by email. You can say, “I’m sorry to hear you are having this problem. We want to make it right. Could you email me at **** and give me some more details about your experience? Then I can make sure your issue gets in front of the right person and is addressed.”
But try to remember that you cannot please everyone. Occasionally, someone will complain about something and you will not be able to fix the problem. Apologize, explain your library’s side of the situation as best you can, and move on.
Encourage library fans to give positive reviews to outweigh negative reviews and increase your overall search engine rankings. Find ways to solicit reviews from the people who love your library. Amplify those good reviews by sharing them on social media, in emails, and in your print promotional material.
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