“American Gods” author Neil Gaiman and publisher HarperCollins both granted permission to use their catalogs to LeVar Burton after the former “Reading Rainbow” host said he was seeking to livestream literary readings for people quarantined amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Burton tweeted this month that he was thinking of ways to create a livestreamed version of his podcast “LeVar Burton Reads,” in which he reads short stories out loud.

I’ve been busting my brain for about a week now trying to figure out how to do a live-streamed version of #LeVarBurtonReads. I figured that during this difficult time I could contribute by reading aloud to folks who could use some diversion for themselves and their families. — LeVar Burton (@levarburton) March 24, 2020

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“I figured that during this difficult time I could contribute by reading aloud to folks who could use some diversion for themselves and their families,” Burton tweeted. “In order to avoid legal complications, I’ve gone down the rabbit hole searching through volumes of short stories in the public domain for appropriate content for families and have come up empty.”

“You have my blanket permission for any of my stories Levar,” Gaiman responded. Gaiman has published six short story collections in addition to the 13 novels he has written or co-written.

You have my blanket permission for any of my stories Levar. — Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) March 25, 2020

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HarperStacks, HarperCollins’s school library branch, also responded to the tweet.

“We are granting permission for online readings of HarperCollins Children’s Books titles through May 31, 2020,” HarperStacks tweeted, linking to its guidelines for such readings, including the deletion of any automatically archived videos and sending a description of titles and authors beforehand to the publisher.