literacy

As California continues to recover from devastating wildfires, a beloved library in Altadena hosted a grand reopening event coordinated by Altadena Library director Nikki Winslow. The event took place outdoors in the library's parking lot complete with food, crafts, face painting, free books, and a reading from none other than literacy advocate and legend LeVar Burton.

Best known as the beloved host of Reading Rainbow, for playing Kunta Kinte in the 1977 television adaptation of Alex Haley's groundbreaking 1976 novel Roots, and as Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Burton's career spans nearly five decades.

I got to sit down with Burton minutes before the event and chat about the importance of libraries in our communities and how we can support them, especially in times of tragedy.

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The adage "never meet your heroes" is usually pretty sound advice, but not so for LeVar Burton. I had the privilege of growing up on Reading Rainbow, first watched Roots in school, and enjoyed an Earth Day marathon or two of Captain Planet over the years. In short, Burton has been a big part of my life, and having the opportunity to meet and talk with him was equal parts humbling and exhilarating.

"Hey!" Burton said as he walked in and offered a fist bump. "I just saw you outside!" A little earlier as I'd walked to the library, Burton drove past in a dark car with the window down and called out, 'Hello! Thanks for coming out!" Immediately my nervousness about interviewing such a tremendous figure disappeared, and it didn't return as we sat together on opposite sides of a table in an empty room near the library's entrance.

Altadena is a historically Black neighborhood and has been something of a haven to African American residents for generations. Rampant redlining in the 1960s and 70s blocked Black families and business owners from securing homes and property in other parts of California, but Altadena, nestled at the base of the San Gabriel mountains, is where many Black families achieved homeownership and were able to begin building generational wealth. These homes stayed in their families for generations, but many were lost as the Eaton Fire blazed. Severely damaged by the catastrophic fire, Altadena has been fighting for relief and recovery.

According to the Altadena Libraries website, the Altadena Library district began as a single bookshelf in 1908, but grew into an independent special district in late 1926. In 1967, the main library, designed by architect Boyd Georgi, opened on Mariposa Street—Altadena's historic Christmas Tree Lane—where it stands today.

The Altadena Libraries (including the Bob Lucas branch on Lincoln Avenue), closed in mid April 2024 to begin extensive renovations, with the website providing updates on its progress through September 2024. During the fire, the main library thankfully remained structurally in tact and operated as a hub for first responders to access supplies and shelter. On March 4, it officially reopened to the public.

We jumped right into my first question: "Why was it important for you to be a part of the library's grand reopening?" I asked. "How did this all come about?"

Burton sat thoughtfully for a moment. 'Well...when tragedies like this happen, I know I'm sitting on a resource that could be of value," he said.

He then relayed how his involvement began in internal talks at his company, LeVar Burton Entertainment, when he got a call from a friend, writer and Altadena resident Katherine Beattie, who wrote one of the NCIS: New Orleans episodes Burton directed in 2019. In 2014, Burton published his children's book, The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm, with fellow writer Susan Bernardo through Reading Rainbow. The book features a story within a story, where a young mouse named Mica is comforted by her Papa reading a story about a rhino who loses everything he loves in a storm and embarks on a journey toward healing. Beattie wanted to know if she could get a hold of some copies of Rhino to donate to families impacted by the Eaton fire.

That led to a conversation at Burton's company's weekly team meeting, which led to Burton's agent, William Morris Endeavor (WME) and their impact team getting involved.

"I'm getting emotional," Burton said as his voice broke. He continued, "Other people started stepping forward volunteering goods and services...and the initial impetus was just to, you know, donate books, to donate as many copies as we could...that was our original intention: 'get these copies to Los Angeles and get them to the Altadena Library.' And then...yeah...shit blew up."

Burton bursts into laughter while wiping his eyes. His emotional response made me wonder whether, beyond the tragedy, Burton has a personal connection to the city of Altadena given its history for Black Angelenos.

"I'm from Sacramento," he began, "where we don't have an 'Altadena.' However, I've lived in Southern California since 1974 and I recognize the value and the unique spirit of Altadena and places like it in these United States...well," he paused sadly, "these formerly United States." Taking a beat he exhaled and said, "This is important to me."

I told him I understood exactly what he meant, and after a moment, we moved on to my next question: "How can we best support local libraries and their communities especially after a disaster like this one?"

"By visiting them, right?" Burton replied. "The [Altadena] library has been open, but this is a sort of a public awareness celebration of the fact that this community resource is available...so, go to your public library! Engage the librarians who are national treasures and check out books and expand your reading horizons, indulge in your reading proclivities. Just...go to the library."

He sat back in his chair and smiled, his eyes still a little misty. I smiled and nodded, soaking it all in.

Captain Planet Stitcher GIF by LeVar BurtonGiphy

"So," I said. "Millions of people can attribute their love of reading to you and Reading Rainbow. Can you share a meaningful interaction you've had with a fan or viewer of the show?"

With a quick laugh, Burton launched into a story:

"So, pulling up here this morning," he said with a smile, "I got out of the car and I started walking and there was a little girl. Her name is Mariah and she's about that big—" he held his hand barely three feet above the ground, "—and her mom said, 'Oh! Is that LeVar?' I turned around and I said, 'Hi!' and Mariah lit up. She said, 'Hi, LeVar!'" It turns out Mariah's mother has been showing her daughter Reading Rainbowepisodes for just three weeks. "She ran and jumped into my arms! Now," Burton said, his voice breaking with emotion again, 'that made my day. It made my day."

I then asked how it feels to know his work has spanned generations of people.

Burton said, "Well, it's wild...I am acutely aware that I have been blessed with what I consider the three tentpoles of my career—I call them the jewels in my crown: Roots, Star Trek and Reading Rainbow."

"Wow," I whispered.

"I know, right?" Burton said. We laughed. "And this work has enabled me to be able to touch multiple generations of human beings and that's not only rare...um, it continues to blow me away. I don't know that I have words, Kat," he said. "Really, honestly. I recognize that I have been continually, remarkably blessed in my life and I come from a family for whom service is critical—key—to being a human being. And I have found this life of mine to enable me to be of service."

This brought us to my penultimate question: "How can we better promote literacy in diverse and inclusive spaces?"

"Well, first of all, I think we need to promote literacy in all spaces. Especially in those spaces that are not diverse and inclusive," noted Burton. He continued, "Because reading promotes empathy. And in the current climate today, it is those who are trying to dismantle inclusion and diversity that need to read more."

Here Burton paused for a moment before adding, "That's all I'm gonna say about that," with a meaningful look.

I took his lead and zeroed in on my final question of the morning: "Considering what's happened here in Altadena, do you think promoting empathy through reading will help those who are very far away from this tragedy feel it themselves? We see these things happen in other parts of the world and, unfortunately, they don't hit as close as when they're right near you."

At this, Burton leaned forward:

"We're at ground zero as we sit here," he said. "Driving in this morning, it's the first time I've been in the neighborhood since the fires were put out. I don't actually know if this event today will have any far-reaching impact beyond Southern California. We are still very much acutely aware of and carry with us on a daily basis the impact of this tragedy... And I know that the world is busy...at the speed of which the world is moving we are, all of us, engaged in the business of living on a daily basis. There isn't always enough time or opportunity to step outside of ourselves and focus on these moments of tragedy beyond the immediacy of the events themselves, the incident itself, right?

"So, it was obvious we had the attention and the compassion of the world community because this is a global story. And so is Israel and Palestine," Burton added soberingly. "And I know that my attention isn't always on that. I know there's a place in my heart, but my focus isn't always there because...Monday through Friday? I got shit to do."

I nodded as we sat in that moment together, our thoughts suddenly far from the library and the fair going on outside.

"But I hope," Burton continued, "that if word of this event gets out that it's a reminder of, hey, you know, this community is recovering and recovery will take a long time and if you can spare a moment for a thought or a prayer...please do. I really do believe that, at least for me, my focus today is on this community. I'm a firm believer in doing what I can from where I stand today. And today, I stand in Altadena."

With that, our conversation was over. We stood up as I thanked him, took a picture together that I'll cherish forever, and he gave me a tight hug. In an hour's time, Burton read to a crowd of nearly 500, made up of kids, parents, adults, volunteers, and visiting public officials. At one point the crowd sang the Reading Rainbow theme song to Burton, and as he read from his book, listeners were delighted by his animated, silly voices and his impactful reading pace that brought the gravity of the story home.

Meeting LeVar.Image from Kathryn Ross

So, do meet your heroes if you get the chance. Sometimes it can be the experience of a lifetime—but don't take my word for it.