ALA Names Mychal Threets Honorary Ambassador for National Library Week 2026

Reading Rainbow host Mychal Threets will be the honorary chair of the American Library Association’s 68th annual National Library Week, to be held April 19–25, 2026. National Library Week coincides with ALA’s 150th anniversary this year, and the week’s theme will be “Find Your Joy,” which has become a motto for literacy proponent and mental health advocate Threets. 

“Mychal represents the best of us, and his mission to spread library joy resonates deeply at a pivotal time for our nation’s libraries and their communities,” ALA president Sam Helmick said in a press announcement. “We can think of no better ambassador to inspire people everywhere to visit and support their libraries.” 

“Celebrating libraries, thanking library workers, visiting libraries is how I find my joy,” Threets said in ALA’s statement. “There are so many library kids and library grown-ups who have yet to fully embrace their library joy, and I am so excited for them!”

Threets, who serves as resident librarian at PBS and PBS Kids, received ALA’s 2024 I Love My Librarian award and was one of Time’s 2024 Next Generation leaders. In February, Random House Children’s Books will publish Threets’s picture book debut, I’m So Happy You’re Here: A Celebration of Library Joy, illustrated by Lorraine Nam.