An email like this made me spit coffee all over my carefully cluttered desk.
My first thought?
“Great, another tech apocalypse to add to my to-do list, right between ‘crippling AI privacy leaks in Adobe and Windows’ and ‘reminding patrons that headphones exist’.
I get it. Library professionals —and everyone who values knowledge and creativity— has a visceral reaction to “AI Slop”. AI stirs the dystopian cauldron, conjuring images of demonic robots drowning out the human voices and making everything feel a lot less human. Feelings we have long before we talk about ethical landmines like plagiarism, copyright, bias, misinformation and job displacement.
If that makes you uneasy— you’re not alone.
For those just tuning in, I’m currently a public library technologist. Over the years, I’ve worn many hats: broadcaster, IT wrangler for the media and publishing industries. I’ve modernized more than one library system. One memorable day I was summarily drafted as an unofficial bat rescuer (THAT story involves a giant Tupperware bowl and a children’s librarian with nerves of steel, so I’ll save it for another post.)
My point is that I’ve seen technology spark both wonder and fear. And I’ve learned after decades of technology panic cycles that the very things we fear most, often become the tools we can’t live without.
What if AI is less “evil book-burning robot” and more “that eager & clueless new hire” who:
– Shows up with bizarre ideas that occasionally lead to brilliant opportunities
– Needs constant supervision and persistent ethical guidance
– Makes ridiculous mistakes we can laugh at and very often, learn from
AI tools aren’t just about automation—they’re about leverage for human labor and inspiration for our educational and creative endeavors.
Question: What was the technology that terrified you most when it first appeared? How do you feel about it now?
For me, it was free, public WiFi. I was convinced we’d be returning endless calls to fraud investigators and spam hunters.
Spoiler Alert: I was wrong.
Libraries have been here before. From the vanishing card catalogs to automation systems and from Wi-Fi to Chatbots, libraries adapt and continue to thrive with every change.
– Rising cost for hardware, software and massive increases in power consumption (Sound familiar?)
– Internet terminals, Wi-Fi hotspots, and digital collections that changed the profession entirely. (All risking Piracy, Privacy & Plagiarism.)
– Wikipedia (Definitely going to destroy research forever.)
Yet, with each innovation, libraries adapted because we stayed true to our mission:
Providing a coveted “third place”, connecting people with knowledge and each other. If we don’t engage with AI, others will shape it without our values, we’ll leave our communities vulnerable to:
– Commercial interests over public good
– Digital divides becoming even wider chasms
– Information access determined by who can pay
Sitting on the virtuous sideline isn’t advocacy or even neutrality— it is the very definition of surrender.
I’m NOT suggesting generative AI is perfect for library uses.
It’s clearly not.
It’s messy, problematic, and evolving too fast for comfort. But the pace of change is different now. Television took 30 years to reach mass adoption; smartphones did it in five. Considering where AI is in 2025, our world may be unrecognizable by 2030.
I am simply suggesting we bring our public service superpowers to the table, to “Use Our Magic”, so to speak. We lead with our values, our commitment to privacy and intellectual freedom:
– Our passion for equal access
– Our discernment between quality information and, well, garbage
– Our habit of asking annoyingly good questions
Here’s what’s actually happening with AI in libraries around the world right now:
– – In a small [rural] Library, a solo librarian uses AI to create personalized reading lists for patrons, doubling the quantity and quality of their outreach without working overtime.
– – In an [Urban] High School, educators use AI tools to build highly personalized lesson plans flipping student comments from “I hate this assignment” into “can I stay late to finish this?”
– – University Libraries train AI chatbots to help students when reference librarians are unavailable.
Our fate is what we make from the work we do today. The future isn’t humans OR machines. It’s humans AND machines in libraries, creating communities where everyone has the tools, knowledge, and support to thrive— even when the world changes faster than we can update our policies.
Has your library tried any AI tools yet?
~ Please drop a comment—success stories AND horror stories welcome!
Oh, and about that bat rescue, compared to the Microfiche Crisis of ’87, it was simply a no brainer.
