The AI Toolkit for Librarians

How do you integrate AI into the library in an accessible and equitable way? This book shows you how! The AI Toolkit for Librarians offers a clear and encouraging way to make sense of today’s fast-moving world of artificial intelligence. Written for academic, public, and K–12 settings, it helps readers understand how AI fits into everyday library work while staying grounded in the values of access, equity, and learning. The book explores AI’s biggest opportunities and challenges, breaks down essential concepts in everyday language, and shows how AI can strengthen reading, writing, research, instruction, and programming. Each chapter includes practical strategies, Quick Tips, discussion questions, and interviews with 25 respected leaders representing a variety of library settings and roles. Throughout the book, real-life examples and personal experiences help make these ideas practical and relatable. The AI storytelling chapter includes a ready-to-use AI Playground Event, a 90-minute workshop that invites learners of any age or skill level to explore AI through a fun, hands-on approach. The book concludes with the Bridge Framework for AI Readiness, a simple model that helps libraries move from experimenting with AI to adopting it in thoughtful, ethical, and sustainable ways.