Mychal Threets

And just remember that reading is individual.

It's individual joy that we happen to share with others once we realize what it looks like for us.

I would love to.

I believe it should have never been the case to be quiet in a library.

I think the reason that libraries have always been kind of taboo for some people and have had some restrictions and made people a little bit disgruntled is because of that quiet aspect that the library, yes, it is a quiet place.

We do use our library voices.

It is a place where you can go to study.

You can go to have meetings.

And I love that.

I love that I witnessed several occasions where social workers would bring in

kids who are trying to be reunited with their guardians.

And the library is that safe place, that place where they can kind of have some privacy and peace to go about that.

But I think in making it this ultra quiet place where the librarian was this feared person who was waiting to shush you around the corner at any time is why libraries weren't the most favorite place in the world for a long time.

And in doing that, it excluded near-divergent folks, people who may not be able to control stimming or various outbursts of joyful noise or just noise about what's going on in the world.

And I think that's great that now there's probably some bothersome people like me who are saying, yeah, you come into the library, you can make noise.

We're going to talk to you at some point if you're on your speakerphone, if your library kids are running around too much.

The library is, I believe, a cooler place than Disneyland, so I get it.

But

There indeed are these different people.

I think that's why I'm always talking about, yes, the library is not this place where you have to be ultra quiet.