I spent last weekend in San Diego at the American Librarian Association (ALA) annual convention, where librarians of all stripes come to see new books, new technology, and more. And a couple of incredible, wonderful things happened—besides seeing thousands of librarians in one place like some kind of amazing book-preserving cadre of word-warriors.
The first thing is that I met this King — Mychal Threets, aka @mychal3ts on most platforms. If you don’t know Mychal the Librarian, he is an Instagram sensation for encouraging all kinds of people, but especially children, to come to the library. He has amazing hair and he is sensitive, tender, and kind, and this earned him a bunch of internet bullies. At certain points, he took internet breaks for his mental health. He was a librarian for the Solano County library (a nearby county to us, and the county where my Husbo grew up). He took care of his mental health, in a way that should be a lesson to us all. Finally, he resigned from the library because of the bullies.
But PBS hired him and there’s talk of Mychal becoming the next Reading Rainbow host. Here’s a petition you can sign to help make that happen: Click here.
Meeting Mychal was a thrill, because I care tenderly for his passion for books and libraries, and I loathe the bullies who make him sad. I call this a peak moment. Follow him on social media — he’s lovely.
The second lovely instance was receiving a text from my publisher that “your cousin came by.”
I said, “Um, huh?” Amy? Linda? Diane? Which cousin…?
Well, on the second day of the conference, a man showed up and his nametag read, Tim Lozier. That’s right—he’s a Lozier, a descendant of Marth and Abraham Lozier, my (our) third great-grandparents. If you have read The Bereaved, you know the name. It’s a real family name.
My second great-grandfather was William Homer Lozier, adopted as William Lozier Gaston. Tim’s great-grandfather was George Lozier — brother to Homer. So Tim and I are third cousins, once removed. (I know, it’s complicated.) We never heard of each other until I wrote The Bereaved, when his sister and I conferred on Ancestry.com. Tim has read The Bereaved. He knows our shared heritage in some detail. And he’s good people. A kind, sweet, funny man, a very good listener, with a gentle spirit in his heart—I’m glad to claim him as my cousin.
But what are the odds that a third cousin, once removed, would also be a librarian and be at the same conference as I was? I call it kismet, and maybe Martha was nudging us to connect. Her DNA runs through our bodies.
Here are a few more photos from the four days of ALA. Enjoy!
Stay cool and be well.
Sounds like such a fruitful conference visit!