Librarians in the AI Age: Established Skills, New Technologies
By Matthew Weldon, Technology from Sage. Published September 2025
The role of the academic library and librarians have long been subject to misconceptions. Libraries have already moved further and further away from the stereotype of “buildings full of books”, which has never captured the entire spectrum of their responsibilities. That stereotype has never applied less than it does today. Librarians, keeping pace with the rapid transformation of the scholarly and technological landscape, are increasingly finding themselves having to do more, and usually with less. This change in the role of librarians is encapsulated in the Jisc digital transformation library lens.
The old stereotypes are ones that librarians are keen to shake off. Three quarters of librarians feel that “the mission of the academic library is not about buildings and collections, but who libraries serve”. It seems however that the “classic” image of librarians is tough to leave behind.
We have now published four reports in the Librarian Futures series, each examining the academic library from a different angle. We have found consistently across each report that students are quick to identify librarians as people they would approach for support accessing resources or finding good information, but little else besides.
This, in part, is what we termed a knowledge gap – students are ultimately unaware of the range of services on offer through the academic library and so do not make use of them. There’s no question that the near ubiquity of AI now makes this a more pressing issue to solve than ever.
In our most recent report, Librarian Leadership on the AI Frontier, we surveyed around 1,000 students and 300 librarians, and found an alarming degree of confusion amongst students as to what was acceptable AI use. Almost a quarter of students didn’t know if their institution had an AI policy. Nearly a third didn’t know if they had access to AI tools via their university. Almost a third didn’t know if they’d be expected to cite AI if they used it in their work.
Nonetheless, this confusion doesn’t seem to be stopping students from using AI. Over half of students surveyed are using it at least a couple of times per week, with many using it every day. Plus, with substantial numbers of students making use of AI for tasks like exam preparation, essay writing, and research for presenting, the potential for accidental misuse, born of a misunderstanding of what is and isn’t acceptable, is high. This is where librarians are uniquely qualified to support.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting that librarians alone are responsible for addressing this issue within their institutions. Everyone – including students – has a role to play in developing and co-constructing an understanding of what acceptable and effective AI use looks like. Librarians though are already equipped with many of the skills they need to effectively support students with AI use, and are confident in supporting students to develop these skills. Over three quarters of librarians report that they would feel very or extremely confident advising students on working in a digital environment, finding good information, reading academic literature, and critical thinking. What could be more crucial for engaging with AI effectively?
Librarians evidently feel the same way – more than 60% of librarians see themselves as key figures in AI guidance at their institution, more than academic staff, more than support staff (learning technologists, academic development colleagues) and far more than senior leadership. The knowledge gap rears its head again though – just 17% of students would look to their librarians for AI guidance. In fact, more students would opt to look to no one at their institution than would look to their librarians –a fact that’s as shocking as it is concerning.
Based on our research, there seem to be two key considerations for librarians looking to address these student perceptions. Firstly, although librarians think of themselves as the natural figures at their institution to provide AI support, and although librarian confidence in each of the skills necessary for effective AI use is high, librarians reported significantly lower levels of confidence when asked outright how confident they would feel advising students on effective AI use.
In short, there seems to be a perceived difference between applying those skills to AI versus everything else. This is why our most recent report has called for libraries to recontextualise “librarian expertise in information literacy and critical thinking… for the AI age, empowering librarians to meet these new challenges with their knowledge and insight.”
The second consideration is outreach. In Part III of the Librarian Futures series, librarians told us outreach skills would be important to develop, and the intervening years have only underscored this. The skills, knowledge, and insight are there in the library, and librarians clearly see that role for themselves – but unless we can help students understand this, we’re likely to see the knowledge gap persist. Librarians recognise that student outreach is only part of the solution to this challenge, with academic outreach skills also seen as crucial. By working closely with faculty colleagues and presenting a united front, librarians can cement their place in students’ minds as a key source of AI support.
Although the details above might be dispiriting, librarians should be encouraged by this: almost two thirds of students reported that they would feel more confident using an AI tool if it were recommended by their librarian. It’s not that students don’t want to hear from their librarians on AI – it’s that they don’t recognise that support is there. But when students hear their librarians speak, they trust them. That trust is hard-earned and well-deserved. With a louder voice, the academic library can establish itself as the go-to resource for AI support and guidance – and ensure the continued relevance of the library in the AI age.
This Viewpoint is based on findings from the Librarian Futures series of reports. For more information, visit the Technology from Sage website to download each of the reports for free.
Matthew is Library Patron Consultant at Technology from Sage and author of Librarian Futures Parts II, III, and IV. His writing has been featured in publications such as Against the Grain, and he is a frequent speaker at webinars attended by global audiences. He has also worked as a learning technologist, contributing to online distance learning courses, MOOCs, and microcredentials.