Reading Rainbow Host Mychal Threets Opens Up on Fairfield Roots After Psychiatric Hold

Mychal Threets, the Bay Area librarian who now hosts PBS’s reboot of Reading Rainbow, spoke out this weekend about a five-day psychiatric hospitalization, telling followers, “I haven’t been okay for what feels like a very, very long time.” In an Instagram video posted Saturday, he apologized to fans for worrying them and offered an unusually candid look at a mental health struggle he has quietly carried for years. Threets’ update, first reported by the Los Angeles Times, described his return from a five-day psychiatric hold at a hospital. “I am not okay, I’m on a journey to discover okay,” he wrote, according to the Times’ report by Alexandra Del Rosario. Friends and loved ones had already reassured his fans that he was receiving proper care and working toward recovery while he was hospitalized.

A Sunday Reflection on Survival

In a follow-up post yesterday, Threets shared photos of his younger and current selves alongside a message celebrating his survival and progress. “Today I am safe, I am believing that is enough,” he wrote, per the Los Angeles Times. He closed the post with an affirmation aimed at himself and his audience: “You are enough. One day at a time. One tomorrow.”

Threets said it will take a long time for him to be okay, but that he has hope he will get there. He is, in his own words, getting help to be better — a continuation of a process he has spoken about publicly before. He shared his experiences with therapy and medication back in 2024, part of a broader pattern of openness about a struggle that predates his current television fame.

From Solano County Shelver to National Recognition

Long before he became a face of children’s literacy nationally, Threets built his career inside the Solano County Library system in Fairfield, working for more than a decade and rising from a student shelver to supervising librarian, according to B-School News. He resigned from that position in March 2024 to focus on his mental health amid online harassment, the outlet reported. As supervising librarian, he had helped install SolanoConnex mental health kiosks across branch locations, connecting local patrons with mental health and addiction support services, per the American Library Association.

Us Weekly has reported that in an April 2024 interview, Threets revealed he had planned to take his own life the previous month amid severe job burnout, before he stepped down from his public library position. That disclosure adds context to just how long and how deep his mental health crisis has run beneath the surface of his public persona.

Honors, a Book Deal, and a Second Act on Reading Rainbow

Threets holds a Master of Library and Information Science degree with a concentration in Youth Services from San Jose State University, completed in 2018. In December 2023, the American Library Association named him one of just 10 national honorees for its I Love My Librarian Award, chosen from nearly 1,400 nominations. He went on to publish his debut children’s picture book, “I’m So Happy You’re Here: A Celebration of Library Joy,” illustrated by Lorraine Nam, through Random House Books for Young Readers in February.

The American Library Association also appointed Threets Honorary Chair for National Library Week in April, under the theme “Find Your Joy.” When the Reading Rainbow reboot launched on YouTube in October 2025, Threets became just the second person to ever host the series, following original host LeVar Burton, who led the PBS program from 1983 to 2006, according to Complex.

Immediate Fallout and Open Questions

Complex reported that following his hospital admission earlier this month, Threets cancelled a planned TED Talk appearance. Children’s book author Phil Bildner shared social media updates confirming Threets was receiving care during that period, the outlet noted. It remains unclear how his recovery timeline will affect upcoming broadcast schedules, book promotion commitments, or public speaking engagements.

California law allows peace officers or designated clinicians to detain a person for an involuntary 72-hour psychiatric hold under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 5150 when there is probable cause the person is a danger to themselves, a danger to others, or gravely disabled. The dossier does not specify what triggered Threets’ hold or confirm it fell under that statute, but the framework illustrates the legal process behind involuntary psychiatric holds in California more broadly. For now, Threets’ own words remain the clearest account of where he stands: not okay, but on a journey, one day and one tomorrow at a time.