AI Competencies for Academic Library Workers Approved by the ACRL Board of Directors, October 2025 PDF Version
In July 2024, the ACRL AI Competencies for Library Workers Task Force was created to develop comprehensive AI competencies for library workers that align with the evolving needs of academic libraries in the context of AI integration…Artificial intelligence, “any technology/machine that can perform complex tasks that are typically associated with human intelligence,”¹ is beginning to transform higher education by influencing research methods, pedagogical practices, data analyses, information production, and information consumption. AI is being integrated into various educational and research technologies, offering capabilities for personalized learning, efficient information processing and retrieval, and enhanced analysis of complex datasets. Recognizing AI’s potential impact on workforce preparation, some institutions are embracing AI as part of their core mission. Examples include large university systems like the State University of New York (SUNY)² and the California State University (CSU),³ which together educate nearly one million students annually. Many higher education institutions are now exploring how to revise curricula to ensure that students learn to critically assess and engage appropriately with AI, provide AI literacy training to faculty and staff, and develop new systems and processes that leverage AI’s capabilities in ways that minimize risks and potential harms.
This document expands on Lo’s (2025) broad definition of AI literacy,⁵ tailoring it into a comprehensive, library-specific set of competencies applicable to academic library workers. It is meant to serve as a guiding framework for the creation of training programs and as a foundation for communities of librarians to develop their own AI competency frameworks. Given the diversity of roles and job duties among academic library workers, it is not possible to create a set of competencies that apply uniformly to everyone. Therefore, individuals, institutions, and others who use this framework are encouraged to adapt it to specific job functions, responsibilities, or organizational contexts. Furthermore, because AI technologies are developing rapidly and often in unanticipated ways, it is not possible to develop a comprehensive set of AI competencies that will remain relevant for decades, let alone a few years. Nonetheless, in the interest of extending the usefulness of this set of competencies as far as possible, it does not reference specific products, models, or job functions.
