Meeting Mychal Threets @ Heartland Book Fest

I had the most amazing experience at the Heartland Book Fest at the Kansas City Public Library’s Central branch last Saturday.  The day was filled with activities for all ages, talks by authors, illustrators, and book lovers, writing workshops, movies, discussions, and storytime for kids. ​

The big draw for me was special guest Mychal Threets, the award-winning, inspirational librarian who became well-known on social media for his videos sharing positive messages about the library and mental health. I knew he was a guest speaker at the event, but I was shocked and delighted to walk in the door of the library and see him standing there! I was starstruck. I told Mychal how inspirational he is and how much I appreciate him. He was very gracious in taking a photo with me and then I walked around in a dazed fog amazed that I had just met one of my library heroes! It was an outstanding day from the very first minute I walked into the library.

I was also very excited to hear the session with Pedro Martin, the author and illustrator of the middle grade graphic novel Mexikid, which was named a Newbery Honor book. I love meeting book creators and getting photos with them to add to my Amazing Authors wall at school. I have found that sharing about the experience of meeting authors really gets kids excited to read. Having a personal connection and story to go along with the book really engages readers.
​
Getting books autographed gives me a special opportunity to make an individual connection with an author or illustrator. I am able to tell them how much I admire and appreciate their work and thank them for writing great books that kids love to read. They are always happy to meet a librarian and express gratitude for the work librarians do in connecting readers with their books. My students get very excited about checking out a copy of a book that has been signed by the author or illustrator. 

I really enjoyed the session with Sarah Chapelle, who created the Taylor Swift Style blog and social media account and was thrilled to have her first book published. She talked about how much reading she does to learn about fashion and different designers and also shared how important reading and writing were to her growing up. She started her blog while in college studying journalism and was able to marry her love of writing, fashion, and Taylor Swift into a career. I knew the Swifties at my school would be excited to read her book, so I bought a copy for the library. I was even able to educate my husband (who went to the festival with me) on Taylor’s eras. It was interesting and educational for all!

After a lunch break (amazing steak tacos from Wrap It Up Tex Mex Grill), we browsed the tables of local authors, bookstores, and literacy-based organizations.

The day ended with the session I’d been waiting for: Mychal Threets and Stacey Abrams discussing the importance of libraries. Their conversation was wonderful! I’m so glad the book fest organizers made a video recording so I can watch it again and so that other people can listen and enjoy. I posted the video below (watch minutes 22-23 to hear the heart of Abrams's message). 

Stacey is the daughter of a librarian and is such an amazing advocate of libraries and freedom to read. She was so eloquent in her description of libraries as “buildings full of knowledge” and “a judgment-free zone.” I also loved her message of the importance of celebrating kids when they learn to read and when they seek knowledge because we want them to connect the feelings of achievement and celebration with reading and books.

I wasn’t familiar with Stacey Abrams’s work as an author but definitely left as a fan. I even received a free copy of her new picture book Stacey Speaks Up for our elementary library.
​

I absolutely loved the Heartland Book Fest and hope to go again! They had amazing speakers and gave away some fun swag, including a tote bag, stickers, and tea bags.

One last thing: If you have never visited the Central Branch of the Kansas City Public Library, you need to. It is a stunningly beautiful building (we’re talking marble floors, pillars, and chandeliers) that used to be a bank. It has an art gallery and the current exhibit was artwork created by employees of the KC Public Library System across its various branches. Artwork on display included paintings, collage, music composed and played by a library employee (on video), a historical dress, photographs, an afghan, and more. The library also features a movie screening room, an amazing children’s area, and is across the street from (in my opinion) the world’s most beautiful parking garage because the outside is decorated with book spines and the stairs are shaped like a stack of books.  

For more photos of the library, take a look at this Book Riot blog post and this Flickr photo album.