West Branch Honored to be First Location Featured in the Reading Rainbow Series Reboot
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Aimee Reeder
Communications Manager
Berkeley Public Library
510.495.4175
areeder@berkeleyca.gov
Berkeley Public Library Honored to be First Location Featured in the Reading Rainbow Series Reboot
Berkeley, California (October 8, 2025) – Reading Rainbow, the beloved PBS program starring LeVar Burton, which aired from 1983-2009 and won 26 Emmys, a Peabody Award, and over 200 other broadcast awards has been rebooted in 2025 with a special Berkeley connection: last Saturday, October 4th, the first episode of the new Reading Rainbow series aired and showcased Berkeley’s own West branch, located at 1125 University, near San Pablo Ave.
Watch and spot scenes from both inside and outside of the West branch in the official trailer and in subsequent episodes! New episodes will air weekly and can viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/@Kidzuko.
The reboot series stars social media star, librarian Mychal Threets.
Threets introduces the inaugural episode from West Branch saying, “Libraries were the first place where I felt like I could belong… At the library I was surrounded by friends and books and discovered friends in stories, embraced by library workers who celebrated my weirdness and called it a good thing.”
Threets asked to film episodes at Berkeley Public Library, specifically!
Staff have developed a relationship with the TikTok influencer starting back in 2023. Aimee Reeder, Communications Manager, had informally reached out via social media, asking him to be a surprise guest and lecturer at a staff training on social media.
Library Specialist, Chinyere Keita, met Threets at that training and fostered a relationship with him including collaborating on several community events including Library Afro Revolution Day and the collaborations continue!
On Saturday, November 8 Threets will be a panelist at the 3rd Annual Comic Con at the Central library located at 2090 Kittredge Street in Berkeley.
Over the last few years Threets has continued to champion the Berkeley Public Library online many times, including promoting the Tool Lending Library.
The library love is quite mutual: Berkeley Public Library has even offered a Mychal Threets library card!
Keita explains how important this relationship with Threets has been to the Berkeley community:
Mychal gives so much to all of us. He is the library – filled with warmth, generosity, fun and learning. His TikTok and Instagram presence helped make the library accessible to so many people. The library card he is on here in Berkeley says “library love is revolutionary” and it is revolutionary to have access to have all these community spaces filled with free resources, events, connection and kindness for all.
And, the representation he brings for People of Color especially has had such an impact: we know people come to our libraries because of him because they mention him when signing up for a library card! Mychal’s influence and warmth makes him the perfect host for the rebooted Rainbow Rainbow.
Rudy Tapia, Berkeley Public Library’s Circulation Manager, is one of millions of Americans who have grown up with and were inspired by LaVar Burton and the original Reading Rainbow. The show sparked a life-long love of reading and his career in libraries:
When I would watch Reading Rainbow when I was a kid, I would make a list of the titles of the books that were featured in each episode and then would go to the library to check out the books. When I heard they were going to film a few episodes at one of our libraries, I just knew it would be special!
For questions or additional information about Reading Rainbow and staff collaborations with Mychal Threets, please call (510) 495-4175 or email areeder@berkeleyca.gov.
For general questions about Library events, services, hours and locations, please call (510) 981-6100 or visit the Library’s website www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.
All Library programs are wheelchair accessible. For questions, to request a sign language interpreter or other accommodations for library events, please call (510) 981-6195 (voice) or (510) 548-1240 (TTY) at least five working days in advance to help ensure availability. Please refrain from wearing scented products to public programs.
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