Vlog of Author John Green

Have I mentioned how much I love working at the BPL, specifically in RA?  I may have dozens of times, but here is a concrete example of why.

Our fearless leader, Kathy, came in on Monday and could not wait to share with us her new favorite obsession, The Vlog Brothers.  Use the link to see what they are doing.  I have also embedded their most recent vlog entry at the bottom of this post.

The Vlog Brothers are Hank and John Green and they run the social networking site Nerdfighters where they fight for the causes nerds care about.  But even more important for library workers to know, this is the same John Green whose new YA novel, The Fault In Our Stars is getting rave reviews from teens and adults alike.

On their vlog, the brothers talk about a lot of different subjects, but currently there is quite a bit about John and his national book tour.  Oh, and they totally love libraries and librarians.

Following them is a great way to stay on top of the larger issues that bookish people are interested in.  They are proud nerds, and if you read this blog, you must be aware that you are a proud nerd too.  (Sorry if I am just breaking it to you.)  As my husband told me back when we were in college, "We are all nerds here, some of us are just cooler nerds than others."  The Vlog Brothers prove this maxim which makes me glad since I have been trying to embody it for the last 15 years myself.

They also cater to a slightly younger demographic than some of the more established resources I use to help readers.  This is an easy way to see a wider picture of the entire community of readers.

In fact, listening to Kathy talk about the Vlog Brothers made me think about vlogs in general as an RA resource.  Plus, it is just fun to say "vlog."

I use blogs and podcasts all of the time.  I will have an article in the March NoveList RA News (sign-up is free and you do not have to be a database subscriber; click here) about using blogs and podcasts as an RA tool.  Too bad I turned the article in at the beginning of January though because I would love to go back and add a small section on vlogs now.

I have added "vlogs" as a tag here on RA for All, so I will be keeping my eyes out for more and will pass them on to you.  I have never used vlogs in my work helping leisure readers, but I am definitely going to explore this resource further.

Enjoy!