AI for Academic Libraries
The leading AI knowledge portal for library professionals.
A structured learning path from AI literacy to building your own tools - mapped to ACRL AI Competencies (2025), aligned with ALA's AI Guidance (2026), and grounded in the 4D Framework from Anthropic's AI Fluency course.
Modules are subject to change as the field evolves.
The free curriculum that turns the ACRL AI Competencies and ALA's AI guidance into skills you can use.
30+
countries reached. An international resource, used in the United States, India, Egypt, Canada, United Kingdom, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, and more.
1000+
librarians visited last month
Sub-competency level mapping across all 18 modules
Start with your role
The curriculum covers both paths. Pick the one that matches your work and we'll highlight your recommended modules across the curriculum - or browse everything.
Reference, instruction, research support
Practicing Librarian
You sit at a reference desk or teach library sessions. You want AI to help you today - drafting emails, building lesson plans, supporting student researchers.
Your track: 10 modules — 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 10, 11, 12
Metadata, cataloging, systems, repositories
Digital Librarian
You work with systems, metadata, digital collections, and institutional repositories. You want to understand where AI integrates with the tools you manage.
Your track: 10 modules — 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12
Not sure? Browse the full curriculum and choose what interests you.
Level 1: Foundations
Five modules. Both audiences. Available now.
What AI actually is
AI tools feel like magic until something goes wrong. Understanding how they actually work, at a nontechnical level, changes how you use them. This module gives you the mental model you need to work with AI effectively and critically.
Talking to AI effectively
Most people underuse AI because they talk to it like a search engine. This module teaches you how to actually communicate with AI, the skill that separates people who get useful results from those who don't.
Picking the right tool
There are dozens of AI tools and new ones appear weekly. This module gives you a framework for evaluating them, a practical comparison of the major tools you'll encounter, and clear guidance on when not to use AI at all.
Level 2: Applied
Seven modules. Practical workflows for daily library work.
AI for research support
Research support is where many librarians first encounter real AI utility, and real AI failure. This module maps where AI adds value to literature reviews, search strategy, and evidence synthesis, and where it gets students into trouble.
Reference & instruction
Reference and instruction are where librarians spend the most time, and where AI provides the most immediate daily utility. This module is entirely practical: real tasks, real prompts, real time savings.
Metadata & cataloging
Metadata work is labor intensive, detail oriented, and increasingly supported by AI tools. This module covers the real state of AI in cataloging: where it saves hours, where it introduces errors, and how to design quality controlled workflows.
Level 3: Advanced
Five modules. Automation, vibe coding, agentic AI, and systems integration.
Automating repetitive tasks
The first library automation course designed for nonprogrammers. You'll learn to identify what's worth automating, build your first real automations using visual tools, and see concrete time savings in your actual workflow.
Agentic AI: what it means
AI agents take actions rather than just answering questions. Understanding what they are, and what library workflows they could handle, is the next frontier for digital librarians.
Vibe coding for librarians
The first practitioner focused vibe coding curriculum for librarians. No programming required. You will describe what you want in plain language and watch it become a working tool. We will build real library tools together, and we will also reckon honestly with the risks.
Taught by someone who actually works in a library
I'm an MLIS student and library associate at a community college in St. Louis. I use these tools in my own graduate research, in my MLIS coursework, and in the day-to-day work of the circulation desk.
This curriculum is what I wish had existed when I started. It's mapped to the ACRL AI Competencies framework - not because the framework makes things credible, but because the framework is actually good and deserves to be taught well.
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