CURRENT POSITION Teacher Librarian, Beverly Hills Unified School District, CA DEGREE San José State University, 2012 FAST FACT Braun is a congenital amputee, born without a left arm beneath the elbow. FOLLOW humanities.uci.edu/news/alumnus-jesse-braun-wins-teacher-year; ilovelibraries.org/love-my-librarian-beaver/jesse-braun Photo by Jeanette Braun

Developing Digital Citizens

After 13 years as an English teacher, Jesse Braun had a lightbulb moment: “One day I looked at my wife, who is a librarian and photograph archivist, and I thought...I want to be more like her!” Now Braun not only serves as a school librarian, but also teaches Digital Citizenship and Information Literacy classes, is the school’s yearbook advisor, and provides home and hospital instruction for students experiencing temporary disability. 

“Mr. Braun’s unique blend of roles has meant that our library has taken on a central role on our campus,” according to nominator and school principal Kelly Skron.

“Every year, I work with more than 700 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders on a series of digital citizenship and information literacy lessons,” Braun shares. “Over the past few years, that has meant a steep learning curve as artificial intelligence [AI] has supplanted online search as the starting point for information seeking among my student population.” 

A current finalist for California State Teacher of the Year, Braun advocated at the state level for the school library’s role in the implementation of Assembly Bills 2876 and 873, which mandate the addition of AI and Media Literacy to curriculums in the language arts, math, and history/social studies. “Hundreds of articles have been written about the fragmented state of our information landscape, and its corrosive effect on civic life,” says Braun. “In that environment, providing our students with the skills they need to responsibly collect and evaluate information feels more important than ever before.”