The former Bay Area librarian, who is known online as Mychal the Librarian, was scheduled to speak at the organization’s joy-themed event on Thursday, Aug. 27.
“Mychal has shared publicly that he is taking time to focus on his health and well-being,” TEDxSanDiego organizers wrote in a joint Instagram post with Threets on Friday, Aug. 21. “We fully support his decision to step away and get the care he needs.”
Earlier this week, Threets discussed his mental health struggles candidly on social media.
“I am not okay. Maybe I’ll never be okay. I’m seeking help. Going to the (hospital) tomorrow,” he posted to Threads on Monday, Aug. 17. “In this moment I am safe. By God’s grace.”
On Friday evening, Threets’ friend and “Front Desk” author Kelly Yang shared an update on his condition via a joint Instagram reel post shared to both of their accounts.
“I did speak with him today. He is alive. He just got out of the hospital,” Yang said in the clip,. “It’s been a really rough week but he has been taking it one step at a time, and I’m really proud of him.”
Threets has spoken publicly about his mental health struggles on several occasions and, in 2024, left his job at the Solano County Library to focus on his mental health. He later became PBS’ first resident librarian, continuing his literacy advocacy by making children’s videos, before taking on the “Reading Rainbow” mantle from LeVar Burton, who hosted the original PBS show from 1983 to 2006. The revived the children’s literacy series aired its first episode in October 2025 for the Sony Pictures YouTube channel, Kidzuko.
“It’s everything I tried to do as a librarian,” Threets told the Chronicle last year. “Now I’m just doing it on a whole new platform.”
In her Instagram update, Yang noted that while Threets “is not checking social media at this time,” fans are welcome to leave him messages for when he returns.