8th Annual Juneteenth Bookfest and Celebration featuring Mychal Threets

Mychal Threets, a beloved librarian and library influencer, will be the keynote speaker for the Center for Black Literature and Culture's 8th Annual Bookfest and Juneteenth Celebration. Join us for a special conversation about library joy between Threets and acclaimed author Ashley C. Ford.

Tickets are FREE but extremely limited and will be available to the public beginning Friday, May 30 at 5 p.m., while supplies last. Sign up for a reminder to secure your free ticket.

Growing up in Fairfield, CA—right between Sacramento and San Francisco—Mychal's love for libraries began as a homeschooled kid who practically grew up in their aisles. He got his first library card at the age of 5 and never looked back, eventually landing his first job as a library shelver for the very library he grew up in. Today, he is the Supervising Librarian of that same beloved library—a true full circle moment!

Mychal's passion for storytelling shines through everything he does. Whether sharing stories of library kids and library grown-ups he encounters on social media or encouraging others to find their own love for libraries, Mychal makes it his mission to connect people with the magic of libraries. In his words, "Library joy and book joy are what I'm all about. We all belong in our libraries!"

A proud recipient of the 2023 American Library Association's "I Love My Librarian" Award, Mychal holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications from the University of Phoenix and a Master's in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University. He is also a mental health advocate.

Ashley C. Ford is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir,, published by Flatiron Books. Ford is the former co-host of The HBO companion podcast, and the current host of Ben & Jerry’s. She currently lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband, poet and fiction writer Kelly Stacy, and their chocolate lab Astro Renegade Ford-Stacy.

Ford has written or guest-edited for ELLE Magazine, Slate, Teen Vogue, New York Magazine, The New York Times, Domino, Cup of Jo, and various other web and print publications.

This event is made possible by The Indianapolis Foundation Library Fund through a gift to The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation.

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