Mychal Threets

Is it your favorite?

Who's it appropriate for?

That's fine.

But a challenge becomes a problem because when we're talking about book challenges, we're talking about that step right before a book banning.

And people don't realize that so many people don't have access to Barnes & Noble, to Amazon.

If you remove, if you restrict a book from a school library, a public library, a kid, a person will never be able to read those stories.

And then the other results on library people is it's getting into legislators, getting into trying to punish library people criminally just for providing access, for having the audacity to tell kids, tell people that they belong in books, that their story is worthy to be told.

So it is a challenge.

It is a crisis.

It is a lot, but I honestly believe that just in talking with so many people,

and especially library kids and people that there is so much love for books, so much love for literature, and they're realizing what's going on.

And they're saying, you know what?

We're not gonna let people's fear of these stories get in the way that LGBTQIA plus stories belong in the world.

Stories about featuring people of color, featuring the history of what's happened in the world belongs.

We should have access to these stories, to this truth, to be able to learn, but also get to celebrate our differences.

celebrate our lived experiences and i think that's a very joyful thing and i think the people who are calling for these book bands calling for trouble they just happen to have a very very loud loud voice and it's time for us to kind of turn up the volume even though we love a library voice it's time for us to turn up the volume on library joy and saying it's okay if you and your family your loved ones aren't ready for a particular book particular story

But that's for you and your household.

Other households, other libraries get to say, hey, maybe my kid is here.

They're ready for this.

We're going to try it out.