Mychal ‘the Librarian’ Threets embraces his passions for books and women’s basketball to promote both

While warming up for a home game with the Las Vegas Aces in 2024, forward Alysha Clark couldn’t believe who was sitting courtside.

“I stopped and I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s Mychal,’” said Clark, now a member of the Dallas Wings. “That’s freaking Mychal the Librarian! I completely fangirled and ran over after the game to say hello and just tell him what an inspiration he’s been to me.”

Mychal Threets, more commonly known as “Mychal the Librarian,” gained a massive following on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic by sharing videos on mental health, literacy, and his life as a librarian in California.

Threets, 36, is also a fervent follower of women’s basketball, a fandom that began in childhood. He incorporates his passion into his daily work, whether by celebrating books by women athletes or recommending women’s sports titles from his library days.

Though librarians and female athletes operate in different arenas, both share a goal to inspire and empower the next generation — one of many ways Threets connects his passions.

“I’ve always loved women’s sports as much as I love libraries, as much as I love literacy and mental health,” said Threets, who is now host of the children’s show Reading Rainbow. “Women’s sports are very important to me.”

Threets’ earliest basketball memories stem from moments with his mother, Tessa Banuelos-Threets, a physical education teacher, coach, and athletic director at Buckingham Collegiate Charter Academy in Vacaville, California.

Banuelos-Threets, who will soon enter her 17th season coaching the Buckingham women’s varsity basketball team, passed her love of women’s basketball to Threets and his siblings. Threets recalled watching game replays with his mother — a big UConn fan — and being exposed to the Huskies’ storied championship dynasties.

“We would stick a VHS tape in the machine, hit record, and go to church or do whatever we were going to do, and then it was like, ‘All right, UConn is on. Everybody, gather round,’ ” Banuelos-Threets said. “Mychal was probably like 8 or 9, so it goes way back.”

Threets also credits his mother with introducing him to libraries as a child. At the time, books about women’s basketball, particularly ones authored by women’s basketball figures, were hard to find.

“There definitely weren’t as many as there are now,” Threets said. “I love that [today] A’ja Wilson is writing books. I love that Elena Delle Donne has a series for kids. … I think I found some biographies on players like Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes when I was a kid, but not too many.

“I don’t think there was as much of an intersection [between women’s sports and books about them]. I think part of the intersection as a kid was just wishing there were more books about women’s basketball and women’s sports in general.”

The landscape for books authored by female athletes is changing. Recent additions include Dear Black Girls: How to Be True to You, a memoir Wilson published in 2024, and Paw Paw’s Playlist, a new children’s book Clark co-authored that helps children navigate grief.

Threets uses his platform to promote stories told by WNBA players. In 2025, he shared on social media his appreciation for Wilson’s memoir and urged his followers to read it. Last month, Threets made a post celebrating Clark’s new book as well.

“For him to support the book the way that he has, has been so kind and just beautiful,” Clark said. “I’m just honored that I got to share in my author journey with him.”

Threets said that books authored by athletes reach young readers in a way other authors can’t.

“When you have these superstars creating more and more stories for these kids to see and to know that anything is possible — to know that, yes, these are heroes, but they’re also human beings as well — it shows kids that they can be anything, that they can attain what their heroes have,” Threets said.

Threets would like to see more women’s sports biographies, as well as books for early readers — and he wants to help write them.

“I would love to be a part of writing some sort of anthology just about the different players and the different things geared towards adults and kids and teens. But I would definitely love to have them write it in their own words and to be the storytellers of their lives or their stories,” he said. “It’s something that a lot of publishers are open to. I get to talk to different publishers and they’re big fans of women’s basketball.”

Threets has popped up at WNBA arenas around the country, attending games in Atlanta, Las Vegas and Phoenix. Because the Golden State Valkyries play in his local Bay Area, he has become a fixture at their home games.

“Secretly, I’m trying to go to all these different arenas,” said Threets, who also attended the 2025 women’s Final Four in Tampa, Florida, where he watched UConn win a national title.

Clark likened Threets to a “courtside king.”

“I love seeing good people celebrated, and he’s such a good human being,” Clark said. “Being able to see him supporting us, I’m still just mind-blown. It’s been really cool.”

Threets praised WNBA players for historically taking extra steps to interact with their communities, including promoting literacy.

“I love that there’s so many readers in the WNBA. I meet different players who talk about libraries, who talk about literacy,” Threets said. “I got to talk to [Los Angeles Sparks forward] Nneka Ogwumike about libraries and different things. It’s just really cool to see how much women’s basketball players care so much about reading, how much they care about the community.

“They show up in schools. They go to libraries and they do story time. I remember seeing Jonquel Jones doing a story time at the library.”

Threets emphasized how female athletes empower classroom learning, showing an unrecognized link between women’s sports and educators like him.

“I hope they realize that libraries and schools are stepping up for them just as much. [Libraries and schools] love that there are those examples out there that they can tell their [students], ‘Hey, did you see the women’s basketball game?’” Threets said.

“I think that’s what it is, just the opportunities for community, the opportunity for care, the opportunity to talk about things that matter on a giant level and on a small level. I think what they do is they care about children all over the world, and I think that’s what librarians like me and educators do as well. We’re all just in it just to be able to support one another, be it on a basketball court or in the library.”