Erik Berman | Movers & Shakers 2017 – Change Agents

Erik Berman subscribes to a “teen run, teen led” mentality, according to senior librarian Sharon Fung at San José Public Library (SJPL). “He works tirelessly to get to know his teens, build their confidence, and guide them into taking an active role in the library.” Hand in hand with local teens and professional designers, Berman is responsible for the creation of the new teen center, TeenHQ, in San José’s central Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library.
Erik Berman

CURRENT POSITION

Youth Services Librarian, San José Public Library, CA

DEGREE

MLIS, San José State University, 2010

FOLLOW

SJLP Teen HQ

Photo by Adam Padilla

MS_logo_300x81

In the Teen Zone

Erik Berman subscribes to a “teen run, teen led” mentality, according to senior librarian Sharon Fung at San José Public Library (SJPL). “He works tirelessly to get to know his teens, build their confidence, and guide them into taking an active role in the library.” Hand in hand with local teens and professional designers, Berman is responsible for the creation of the new teen center, TeenHQ, in San José’s central Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library. He recruited teen volunteers from around the city, originally to fill the role of advisors. The teens, who dedicated “a year and a half and over 1,000 hours” to the project, says Berman, evolved into full-fledged designers and builders, even constructing scale models to test their ideas. The resulting space includes a state-of-the art Maker space, recording studio, and print collection.

Berman also facilitates the library system’s teensReach program, teen advisory boards run at several branches. At the Educational Park library, location of the first teensReach group, “[I] slowly, almost sneakily transformed the group from one that merely advised to one that actively championed the library, ran their own meetings, and planned events,” he says. Berman is currently engaged in bringing a variety of life skills programming to teens in order to prepare them for the world after graduation.

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Wendy Bjorge

Every library should have someone like you😊...

Posted : Mar 23, 2017 04:54


RK

Well deserved Erik, so well deserved!

Posted : Mar 22, 2017 09:07


Sandy Hirsh

On behalf of the SJSU School of Information, congratulations on this well deserved award!

Posted : Mar 19, 2017 12:15


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