Roadtrip Nation

narrator: How do I know which path is best for me?

Is it possible to take on these challenges and obstacles?

Where do I even start?

Where do I even start?

What should I do with my life?

Sometimes the only way to find out is to go see what's possible.

Since 2001, we've been sharing the stories of people who ventured out and explored different career paths and different possibilities for their futures.

This is one of those stories.

This is "Roadtrip Nation."

Isabelle: I have been a library evangelist for years now.

There is nothing I am more about than the public library.

Maryan: I don't really know what I'm gonna do and what my future is gonna look like, but I just wanna work in libraries and just stay in libraries forever.

Jenny: I think librarians are the coolest people in the world.

I think we need to see more representation of what they could look like beyond the stereotype of, you know, this older woman shushing people.

Isabelle: Librarians are my superheroes.

They're the people I look up to the most.

I love them so much I've decided to become one of them.

I feel very unsure about what type of librarianship is right for me.

I know that somewhere in this ginormous field, there is something that's perfect.

Where is it?

How can I find it?

Take me to it.

[music] [music] Jenny: We are about to embark on a three week journey from LA to Chicago, getting to connect and learn more about the library world Isabelle: And drive from LA to Albuquerque to-- oh wait, I can do it-- Oklahoma City to Kansas City to Des Moines to Chicago, all places I've never been, and meet librarians along the way with two other aspiring librarians.

Maryan: We're gonna be traveling across country speaking to library leaders, library professionals, and really just getting a better understanding of what libraries mean and what they could be, you know?

I think there's just so much diversity in librarianship, and I think just jumping into it is exactly what I need.

I think this is probably one of the bravest things I've ever done.

Isabelle: Ah, look at all the writing!

We are in beautiful sunny California.

I'm the first one here.

Jenny and Maryan are gonna be here a little bit later today.

I can't wait.

I cannot wait to see those two.

This is-- I'm making a nice bed for my skates, which are my babies.

I'm Isabelle Haines, born and raised in Washington state, and I am an incoming student at the University of Washington for their Master's of Library and Information Science program.

I mean, there's a lot that I'm nervous about with entering librarianship.

At least for me, there's a lot of fear around being able to make a sustainable career, which is why I'm so excited to talk to people who've been doing this for a really long time.

Jenny: I'm Jenny, a current MLIS candidate from San Jose State University.

Isabelle: Ah, hello!

Jenny: My motivation for hitting the road and getting to connect with these people is to really understand that why, but ultimately seeing proof of success and proof of joy and people really enjoying their lives in the library world.

Isabelle: Woo!

Maryan: The other road trippers on this trip are amazing!

I feel like we are the perfect trio.

It's really fun being with a group of girls who are also on a similar journey, who are also dealing with these uncertainties in the times that we are in.

It's a great energy, and I'm just excited to really get to know them and be best friends forever.

[Laugh] Check out my crib, "Roadtrip Nation" edition.

This is my bed, so.

I'm Maryan.

I am a 27 year old Somali-American from the Midwest.

My family immigrated to the US when I was about one years old.

We came as refugees from Somalia.

I think my biggest thing as the youngest child of a immigrant, you know, family was not trying to mess up, you know?

My earliest library memory includes just going to the library with my mom.

She would go to the tech space, and you know, get help with printing and faxing, and then I would just sneak off to the children's area, and I would get lost in these books.

Being able to just escape reality and fall in love with these stories and these worlds was just so beautiful to me, coupled with the fact that the librarians were amazing.

The library staff were amazing.

Like, I felt like it was one of my first real safe spaces where this little shy, anxious, introverted, extroverted girl could really just shine and be herself and find her voice.

Funny enough, again, very immigrant-child-coded, you know, I thought I wanted to be a dentist.

It was my sophomore year of college.

I was taking my science classes.

I hated it, and I remember just crying to my friend about, like, "I hate these classes, but I thought I wanted to be a dentist, but I just wanna work in libraries and just stay in libraries forever," and that's when she asked me the big question of "Why don't you?"

And I-- not to be dramatic, but like, I had like that in-and-out experience of like, "Whoa, why did I never consider that?"

and immediately started looking into what does it take to be a librarian, how do I actually make this happen?

And I'm currently pursuing a double degree in MLIS and master's of education with the hopes of being a youth services librarian.

We are currently inside Cover to Cover, a children's bookstore where I work at.

Now, currently I'm a children's bookseller.

I love it, you know, and I created a blog called Maryan's List where I celebrate inclusive children's lit.

Hi everyone, happy Somali Independence Day.

I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate today than supporting and highlighting Somali authors.

It was me just talking about these great books and how much I love them, and why you need them, and why you should, you know, have them in your classrooms, and a lot of these books were books that I never had as a child.

There were characters with Black children as the main characters.

There were characters who had hijabs on.

There were just all different types of, you know, kids, and it just made me so happy to see they existed.

I love storytelling and books, and people finding and just escaping into different worlds, you know, but most recently my hours did get cut, and so that's been a financial stressor.

And my biggest concern is trying to, you know, figure out my career path, trying to prove to my family that yes, this grad program, this dual degree is gonna take me four years, but like, it's worth it.

I think, full transparency for the first time in my life: I don't really know what I'm doing, and I've always been that person who knew exactly what she needed to do, how to get to where she needed to do.

I know I belong in libraries, and I know this is the space I'm supposed to be, but I just don't know how to break in, you know?

I think for the first time imposter syndrome is really hitting me, you know?

I felt like up until now I've done everything right, you know, so I just feel lost.

I definitely feel like my biggest issue right now is just imposter syndrome, and I know a lot of that is just like internalized negative, you know, thoughts and feelings, but that coupled with financial expectations for my family, all of these things are just building up, and it's really hard when you're in the thick of things to not take that as a reflection of who you are.

I'm excited to talk to Mychal the librarian.

I think in a lot of ways he encompasses the type of librarian I wanna be.

Mychal: Does your library let you borrow musical instruments?

Some libraries do.

How cool is that?

We don't make mistakes, just happy accidents.

You belong in books.

The library is for everyone.

Maryan: I just think his passion for books and literacy is just amazing.

Isabelle: How did you guys learn about Mychal?

Maryan: I came across his TikTok for the first time actually, and it was around the time that, like, I really started to feel like my library burnout, and just like my feelings of, like, is this career right for me?

Were my parent-- like, was my mom right about this not being the field for me?

And hearing him just talk about like libraries where I was like, yes, that's what I'm feeling, that's what I wanna do!

Mychal: Having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card.

Feel the library joy, yes!

All: Hi!

Mychal: Hi there!

How are you guys doing?

Jenny: Good, how are you?

Maryan: Nice to meet you as well Mychal: Hi, Mychal.

Maryan: So one thing that I think is really cool about you-- there's so many cool things, right?

But like, not only are you a librarian, you are a PBS resident librarian, you are a TikTok phenomenon.

You know, you're able to take your library role and do multiple cool things with it all while holding space for a library's joy and also talking about difficult topics.

So like, were you always interested in libraries, or you know, how did you become Mychal the librarian?

Mychal: How did I become Mychal the librarian?

That's a good question.

No, I've always-- I've grown up in libraries, almost literally.

I have a library card tattooed on me, but the library is always a place where I felt safest, where I felt like I belonged.

I had a really hard time making friends as a kid, so I made friends in books, in book characters.

They were there for me like when I didn't have anybody, or at least that's the way that I felt in life.

I didn't know I wanted to become a librarian.

I think in my heart I didn't know it was for me.

I never saw men behind the library desk.

I never saw people of color, so I just didn't think it was for me.

I ended up trying to join the military.

I ended up being medically discharged during boot camp essentially for mental health reasons and also for a bad valve in my heart, and I was very crushed, very discouraged when I came home, but I went back to my local library.

I was like, what am I gonna do next?

And I remember just sitting in the local library, and just something came over me one day.

I just remember just feeling so at peace, feeling so calm, just like so tranquil, and I asked the person at the desk, and I just said, "How do you work for the library?

Can I work at the library?

Can I be a librarian?"

And this person just goes, "I knew you were gonna ask that," and they already had the job site pulled up, and they helped me apply, and I applied to the shelver and got the job, and just kind of fell in love with like-- I think that's when the library joy that I always talk about kind of started brewing for me at the library, and just kinda kept on going.

Kept on getting lucky, kept on getting promoted.

I was going to school full time, and I was working at the library full time, and that's when I kinda like stumbled accidentally into library social media.

It was really during the pandemic, and to my surprise it took off.

Literacy to liberation, ugh, it means everything to me!

It's okay to have hard days, bad days.

We're all humans in this world together, coexisting.

You are worthy.

You don't have to prove your worth to anybody.

You already are worthy.

I've just gotten so lucky being a resident librarian for PBS and PBS Kids, focusing on library joy and literacy, and just trying to remind people to take it one day at a time.

Isabelle: That's awesome.

That's beautiful.

Maryan: So what would be your advice for, you know, library staff members who are really just struggling with imposter syndrome or self-doubt in their abilities because of the burnout, and maybe even the loss of that library joy and just not feeling supported, but do belong in libraries?

Mychal: Yeah, you know what, I think first, I would always remind them and encourage them that they really do belong in libraries.

I think it is such a valid train of thought for them to think, "I don't belong here, this isn't for me anymore."

I experienced my own burnout at the library as a supervising librarian while my grandparents were getting sick, while I was just struggling just with being alive.

My parents got sick, my brother was struggling, and I was just having a really hard time, I think it's something that library people feel.

It's almost like a guarantee.

Like, burnout is going to happen, self-doubt is going to happen.

So I think that's what I would address first with them, and just saying that just talk to me.

I think people ask like, "How are you?"

and they think you're gonna say good or fine, and I like saying "I'm crippled by anxiety" when I'm crippled by anxiety, and I think that's really helping me discover myself, and I feel like myself as a person who is just obsessed with library joy, and it comes into those things that you talked about: talking about the burnout, talking about the hardships of being a library person.

There's so much more library joy than there is library struggle, and I think it's something where you just have to tell yourself, "I am helping somebody."

I'm a person who believes in Mr.

Rogers, believes in Bob Ross, believes in Steve Irwin, believes in Dolly Parton, a whole bunch of wholesome, kind people, and I think that's what the library career is.

It's kindness, it's empathy, it's being there for one another, being there for your neighbors, and I think that's what you kinda have to tell yourself as you become a library person.

It wasn't until about two or so years ago where people were like, "You're a librarian?

That's awesome!

Good for you, that's so cool!

I wish I could be a librarian," so I think that's kind of where we're-- oddly enough, where we're getting at in the world where people want to be librarians, and it's because they can see themselves.

They see people of color as librarians.

They see, like, tattooed librarians.

They see librarians with pink hair, with green hair, with purple hair, and they're like, "Oh, I didn't know we could do that!

I thought we had to have our hair in a bun.

I thought we had to wear cardigans."

You do belong.

You are who you are at the library.

We wanna see you on the book cover.

We wanna see you in the pages.

Everyone has a voice.

Everyone has the ability, the opportunity to share their stories, and I think that's what we have to keep on reminding ourselves of because it is library joy.

It's book joy.

It's saying, "The library is here!

It's the best place in the world.

The library is for everyone."

Maryan: He is a gem, you know, in so many different ways.

Like, I love his ability to be nerdy and geeky and, you know, still be a proud librarian.

I think in a lot of ways, like, that's what I wanna be, and that's what I wanna do.

Mychal: So it says, "Hi, I'm so proud of you!

What you're doing is phenomenal.

Enjoy every conversation, every moment.

Mental health matters always.

You belong.

Library joy, smiley face, your friend Mychal."

Maryan: I love that.

I love the heart too.

Mychal: [laugh] [music] I think for me the real highlight has just been like driving down Route 66.

I think we've had this conversation of how historic Route 66 is.

We're now at the Petrified Forest here in Arizona.

Isabelle: I really don't think probably anybody has been as excited to see the Petrified Forest as her.

Maryan: This is so pretty.

Oh man, I can't believe this is real.

Isabelle: She was hyped that day.

Jenny: I'm excited about visiting different states because I haven't really gotten to travel around in the US.

I've never been on a roadtrip before.

[Music] Isabelle: [laugh] Maryan: [screams] Isabelle: Oh no!

All: [laughing] Maryan: Like, I don't know, I'm just feeling immensely grateful.

Like, I'm glad that I'm here and I'm with the girls and we're on this road trip.

[laugh] [music] Isabelle: So we're at the conference by the Association of Rural & Small Libraries.

It made me think so much about my own childhood, and like, the small rural library where I kind of like learned how to be a person.

Kate: I'm Kate Laughlin.

I'm the executive director for the National Association for Rural & Small Libraries, and what that means is libraries that are serving populations of fewer than 25,000.

And in fact, small and rural libraries make up approximately 77% of our libraries across the country.

Yeah, the wow on your face.

Most people are surprised by that because you don't hear about them.

Individually they often have no voice, and sometimes that's the only game in town.

There's really nowhere else to go or to turn to for services, information, support, really whatever the needs are, and that's where the real magic is happening, where the difference is being made.

Isabelle: Seeing all of these librarians who are making so much out of so little in their communities, yeah, it was so inspiring.

Jenny: Working in the library field is something that I never considered or I thought was for me for a very long time.

I grew up in Sacramento for the majority of my life.

We immigrated here in 2005 from Korea.

Our very first apartment was across the street from a library, and so my mom used like ESL class services and English speaking practice groups.

I do remember there were a lot of kids' social events, and so it was kind of like a fun opportunity where she just threw me and was like, "Okay, go and make friends."

I think for a long time I felt I couldn't really be proud or open about the fact that I wanted to go into the library world just because-- I guess the pedestaling of certain industries like tech or STEM-based careers that are highly valued and lucrative, and they seem like, oh, that's something that you will definitely see a future in, and I think that's always made me feel insecure about whether that was something that I should go into or if it was right for me.

I started working at my undergrad library, and ultimately when I really thought about what is it that I wanted to do and what are my passions, I really wanted to be able to find a sustainable way to create value and contribute to others and contribute to society, and I think the library field does that perfectly, I mean, because there's so many fields within librarianship.

I like the social science realm, and I think that being in a library is a perfect space to like observe and learn more about others and what people need and want, and how they think, and how they decide to search for information, and I'm also a very creative person.

I'm a huge sticker collector.

I love like supporting artists, and I think that's something that I love seeing being celebrated in public libraries, so currently I'm really interested in like seeing like maybe where my creative interests, my career interests like combine all in one place.

The pins are gorgeous.

Person: Thank you, help yourself Jenny: Yeah, I really wanna be able to, I guess, really find my own path within the library field.

Isabelle: We're gonna interview Shamichael Hallman who is here and who has-- oh, his book is here as well over there.

Yeah, I'm super excited.

Shamichae: Hello, how are you?

Jenny: Yeah, I'd just love to see like his approach on how he addresses community and builds it from within.

Shamichael: It's been about a decade for me now in the world of public libraries.

I get to work on this really cool project, became a $6 million renovation of this historic library in Memphis that had all this history.

It was a segregated branch for 60+ years.

You know, I get to come in really asking the question: how might we think differently about public space?

How can we design and manage and maintain spaces in a way that really foster belonging, that really foster connection?

And so as I was doing the work.

I was also traveling across the country.

I was going to these other public spaces in Detroit and in Chicago and Akron, Ohio, trying to like figure out, okay, what am I learning from this park right now that I could bring back to the library space?

What am I learning from this community center right now that I can bring back to the library space?

And so that became a book, and the book is-- I'm traveling all over the world, you know, speaking because of this book, and it's an honor for me, and I think libraries are more needed now than they ever have been, yeah.

Jenny: Now that you've been in library spaces for a while on the other side, how do you feel about library spaces?

And like, I'm one-- I can't even imagine like public spaces beyond the ones that we know, so I'm wondering, like, if you see future in like different kinds of public spaces beyond the ones that are currently existing.

Shamichael: Yeah, so you know, I do a lot of workshops with librarians, and we do a lot of this work to do what we call asset mapping, looking at, you know, what are the other spaces, places, people, programs that are happening.

I think one of the most incredible things that we did in Memphis was we asked ourselves every day: who's not coming into this branch?

One of the groups that was not coming in the door were young Black creatives.

Now in Memphis, if you're not engaging young Black creatives, man, like what are you actually doing, right?

And so these folks, they were-- they wanted to create, they wanted to do art.

They had clothing brands, they had-- you know, they had music, they had stage plays.

They had all these sorts of things that they wanted to do.

They didn't have space to do their thing, and so there's this really strong and pressing need to be able to create spaces where people can be together.

When we look at sort of the current conversation around loneliness and social isolation in this country, there's a lot of work to be done.

Where are those places that have a low barrier, that don't require a lot of money, that are welcoming of people regardless of where they slept last night or what their education level is?

I really think that the library is one of those few spaces that are actually there, right?

This is so cool.

Maryan: Yeah!

Shamichael: I think there are some things that regardless of what community you're in, what city you're in, some things that just span the bounds of art, food, culture, music, nature.

Right, these things just pull people in, like, regardless of how they voted on a ballot, regardless of where they live in a community, regardless of education.

Like, you can bring people together over these things, right?

And so it is sort of this ability of the program, the ability of the event, of the gathering in a trusted space, in a safe space that can really begin to form some of these connections, right?

Be kind, smiley face.

It's so important, man.

Jenny: It is.

Shamichael: And I don't think any of that is a departure from what libraries are currently doing.

I think it's just kind of a further leaning in of the mission and the value of the library.

Maryan: Two, three, "Roadtrip Nation"!

Jenny: One of the things that I really loved about our interview with Shamichael was about strengthening these third spaces and community spaces.

When I first met like Isabelle and Maryan, I completely understood why like they were here, but I still felt like I, like, didn't understand like why I was here.

And yeah, I still don't feel like I belong in certain like times or spaces, but then what I've been really inspired by is seeing, like, these various library leaders and how they were able to blossom their career like despite that, and that's something that's given me a lot of hope that I can still build something beautiful for myself.

[hot air balloon sounds] Isabelle: I never thought it was like this big.

Whoa.

[music] Jenny: Yeah, everything was so tiny.

Like, I wanted to grab the RV and just like-- I don't know, it looked like a little piece of chocolate.

I just wanted to eat it.

Isabelle: It's like two-dimensional.

Jenny: I wanted to like, just squish it or something.

Isabelle: Yeah, yeah.

Isabelle: The trip has been-- honestly, it's kind of hard to put into words.

I'm just kind of like feeling everything.

I went from thinking about library careers as this thing that I'm, like, a journey that I'm going towards, and like more of something that is like right here.

It's like here right now.

Maryan: I think for me, like, the last couple of days, I've kind of been in this headspace of like, I'm so proud of myself and I'm so happy I did this.

You know, I think like my brain and anxiety has just been telling me all the wrong things that could possibly happen, and you know, I'm really happy I just didn't listen to that and I just took this chance.

Yeah, we have-- I know we have 11 days left, so we're at the halfway mark.

Isabelle: That's so wild.

I don't know if that feels like too long or too short.

Maryan: Yeah!

Jenny: Right.

Maryan: Because I feel like everything happened so fast, but at the same time I'm like, oh wait, like this feels like forever now, you know?

I don't know, I keep on going back and forth between those two feelings.

Oh, I did it!

Isabelle: Yeah!

I think it's nice to get like a running start.

I don't know why, but like Maryan: I couldn't get the last one.

All: Oh!

Jenny: So far we're halfway through our trip.

Maryan: Traveling across country, speaking to library leaders, and really just getting a better understanding of what libraries mean and what they could be.

Chris: They brought in all these teaching artists and mentors.

Kids got to learn from somebody who was doing the things that they wanted to do.

Sam: You all have the power, and I'm gonna be honest, the responsibility-- I'm gonna Spider-Man this up-- to make librarianship what it will be, which is why it's an honor to talk to you three.

narrator: Wondering what to do with your life?

Well, we've been there, and we're here to help.

Our website has some awesome tools to help you find your path, and you can check out all our documentaries, interviews, and more.

Start exploring at roadtripnation.com.