Dr. Bernier served as a professional field practitioner for 18 years (Director of Young Adult Services for Oakland Public Library; 10 years as YA Specialist for L.A. Public Library). He has designed a variety of innovative outreach and programming models, including the original service and space plan for the first purpose-built library YA space: LAPL's acclaimed TeenS'cape. He has received IMLS National Leadership Grants to advance research on developmentally-appropriate YA spaces and he continues to speak on and consult with architects and public agencies on library space design. A critical youth studies scholar, Dr. Bernier's research and teaching explores public space equity and administration of library services with young people. He is former chair of the ALISE Youth Services Special Interest Group, former chair of YALSA's New Directions Task Force, and currently serves on the Editorial Boards of Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) and Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (EBLIP). Dr. Bernier wrote his doctoral dissertation on changing notions of public space in 20th century America at U.C. Irvine. He lives in Oakland and rides a BMW R1100RT.
Contributions to Books
Spacing out with young adults: Translating YA space concepts back into practice, Urban Teens in the Library: Research and Practice (2010)
Urban Teens in the Library is the perfect solution for the concerns and uncertainty many...
Not broken by someone else’s schedule: On joy and young adult information-seeking, Youth information-seeking behavior: Theories, models, and issues (2007)
This resource is as much a tribute to its editors and contributors, a cadre of...
YA space: the final frontier, Young adult services institute: serving San Joaquin valley teens in the 21st century (2003)
Echo Park Branch, Los Angeles Public Library: Service Volunteer Program, Excellence in library services to young adults (2000)
Expanding Academic Vocabulary, New Ways in Content-Based Instruction (1997)
A wide variety of techniques and classroom activities, contributed by teachers, for content-based instruction (CBI)...
Articles
A spatial revolution continues in Oakland (with B. Elwood), Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (2011)
The article describes the purpose-built young adult space in Oakland Public Library's (OPL) 81st Avenue...
Representations of youth in local media: Implications for library service, Library & Information Science Research (2011)
This study is the first content analysis of news media representations of young adults specifically...
Reaching Escape Velocity and the Purpose of SLIS Student Research Journal, SLIS Student Research Journal (2011)
Ten years of “YA Spaces of Your Dreams:” What have we learned?, Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (2010)
“A space for myself to go:” Early patterns in Small YA spaces, Public Libraries (2009)
While young adults (teenagers) are routinely recognized as constituting nearly 25 percent of the nation's...