Faculty Profile
Education Librarian
Associate University Librarian
Affiliate Faculty College of Education
Education Library Room 1501
352-273-2793
brittany.kester@ufl.edu
Brittany Kester, Ph.D. (She/Her/Hers)
Education:
Ph.D. University of Florida, Curriculum & Instruction, Language & Literacy Education
MLIS Florida State University, Library and Information Science
B.S. University of Central Florida, Elementary Education
Research Interests: Information literacy, accessibility and inclusive pedagogies, K-12 educational research, and children’s and young adult literature
Subject Specialist for Art Education; Children’s Literature; Computer Science Education; Curriculum, Teaching, & Teacher Education; Early Childhood Studies; Educational Technology; Elementary Education; English Education; ESOL/Bilingual Education; Mathematics Education; Reading and Literacy Education; Teachers, Schools, and Society; Science Education; Social Studies Education; Special Education; Teacher Leadership for School Improvement.
Recent Grant Activities:
- Team Member – Global Voices: Persian Children’s and Young Adult Books
- Team Member – Mindful Spaces by Design: Fostering Calm and Focus through a Circulating Wellness Technology Collection
- Co-PI – Middle Grade and Young Adult Books with Black, Indigenous People and People of Color: Where are They?
- Team Member – Reanimating African American Oral Histories of the Gulf South: Tailoring Education and Research through Natural Language Understanding
- Co-PI – Bilingual Children’s Books: Bridging Cultural Gaps with Literature
- Co-PI – Decolonizing the Children’s Literature Archives: Multicultural Picture Books
Recent Publications:
- Kester, B., & Wang, X. (2025). Information literacy experiences: A conversation between an international student and an education librarian. Journal of New Librarianship. https://doi.org/10.33011/newlibs/19/2
- Bjartmarsdóttir, J. B., Kester, B., Guðmundsdóttir, B. G. & Bjarnadóttir, R. (2025). School-based universal mental health literacy curricula for K-12 education: A scoping review protocol. Nordic Journal of Systematic Reviews in Education, 3, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.23865/njsre.v3.6736
- Campbell, L., & Kester, B. (2024). Ready for it? Ensuring web content accessibility in libraries. LibTech Insights (LTI). https://www.choice360.org/libtech-insight/ready-for-it-ensuring-web-content-accessibility-in-libraries/
- Elrod, R., Koppitch, M., Laboy, L., & Kester, B. (2024). Mind the gaps: Exploring diversity in school library collections. Knowledge Quest, 52(4), 46-52.
- Abramowitz, B., Ennes, M., Kester, B., & Antonenko, P. (2024). Scientist-school STEM partnerships through outreach: A systematic review. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-024-10445-7
- Kester, B., Coady, M., & de Farber, B. (2023). The Coral Way “experiment”: Building an archive to unravel the beginnings of the first publicly funded Spanish-English dual language program in the United States. US Latina & Latino Oral History Journal, 7, 38-68. https://doi.org/10.7560/OHJ703
- Campbell, L., & Kester, B. (2023). Getting started with accessible user experience (UX) research: Why to include students with disabilities in UX research. LibTech Insights (LTI). https://www.choice360.org/libtech-insight/getting-started-with-accessible-user-experience-ux-research/
- Campbell, L., & Kester, B. (2023). Centering students with disabilities: An accessible user experience study of a library research guide. Weave: Journal of Library User Experience, 6(1). https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/weaveux/article/id/1067/
Recent Presentations:
- Kester, B. (Jan. 2026). Global perspectives on information literacy: Insights from Chinese graduate students in the US. Poster Presentation at the Charleston Conference Asia 2026 Annual Conference. Bangkok, Thailand.
- Whitaker, H., Bobal, A., Campbell, L., Glenn, E. Kester, B., & Suzarte, D. (Jan. 2026). Addressing accessibility: How two institutions navigate web accessibility. Presentation at the Charleston Conference Asia 2026 Annual Conference. Bangkok, Thailand.
- Colosimo, N., & Kester, B. (Nov. 2025). Embedding dreaming practices in the ELA classroom to foster care, interpersonal connections, and support students’ mental health. Presentation at National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE) 2025 Annual Convention. Denver, CO.
- Takacs, P., & Kester, B. (Nov. 2025). Innovative collaborations between librarians and teachers for student success. Presentation at National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE) 2025 Annual Convention. Denver, CO.
- Crumpton, J., & Kester, B. (Nov. 2025). Cultivating connection: Nurturing a sense of belonging to promote academic librarian wellness and performance. Presentation at LOEX Fall Focus 2025. Virtual
- Crumpton, J., & Kester, B. (Oct. 2025). Building belonging: Cultivating a “sense of community” to support academic librarian well-being and success. Presentation at the Florida Association of College & Research Libraries (FACRL) 2025 Annual Conference. Virtual.
- Bjartmarsdóttir, J. B., Kester, B. [presenters], Bjarnadóttir, R., Guðmundsdóttir, B. G. [contributors]. (Oct. 2024). School-based universal mental health literacy curricula for k-12 education: Preliminary results of a scoping review. Presentation at líf og heil 2024: Líf-og heilbrigðisvísindaráðstefnan (Life and Health 2024: The Biomedical and Health Sciences Conference). Reykjavik, Iceland.
- Kester, B., Bjartmarsdóttir, J. B. [presenters], Bjarnadóttir, R., & Guðmundsdóttir, B. G. [contributors]. (Sept. 2024). School-based universal mental health literacy curricula for K-12 education: Inclusion, equity, and access. Presentation at Menntakvik 2024. (Annual Icelandic Conference in Educational Sciences 2024). Reykjavik, Iceland.