Evolving Librarianship: Teaching AI Literacy for a More Responsible Future

By now, most of us are no strangers to conversations about the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in our daily lives. From search engines offering up AI-generated summaries (hint: drop an expletive into your search and it won’t do that), to semi-autonomous “agents” to automate tasks, AI is embedded in the digital infrastructure most of us use. This is where AI literacy is shaping up to be one of the most critical skills for folks to hone moving forward. 

According to the most recent LinkedIn report, “AI and the Global Economy” (2025), AI literacy is the top skill found in job postings, and they predict that more businesses will be partnering with educators to teach it in the workforce. While there will certainly may be organizational shifts to support these needs in greater academia, librarians specifically are poised to help educate on AI literacy with our foundational knowledge of information literacy and strong emphasis of verification of information. But many librarians are playing catchup on the new technology and how to align what they already know to the way AI works and how it is being used in research. 

EBSCO announced in December 2024 that we were gathering information from librarians who were already starting to teach AI, coupled with on-staff experience with responsible AI practice, to release an AI Literacy Short-Course to help provide tips on how AI literacy can be used to assess AI output, as well as how AI Literacy can be taught. This course is geared toward anyone who is interested in the topic, at no charge and without needing an advanced degree to be useful. Check out our inspiration and background to the course before jumping in. 

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Historically, librarians have adapted to every major information shift: from card catalogs to the internet, from archives to digital databases, and now the AI landscape we see today. At the core of each evolution is a constant mission: to guide people in navigating, evaluating, and using information ethically and effectively for the research and information needs.

Today, as AI transforms how knowledge is created, discovered, and distributed, librarianship is evolving once again — not by abandoning our foundations, but by expanding them. The next frontier is AI literacy and, perhaps, more librarians working outside of the traditional library with a wide array of new titles and duties. Trust, a resource that is easy to lose and harder to earn, is now at the core of using AI. Can you trust the output? Can it be verified?

Check out our past blog in Library Journal focused on how early sci-fi library fiction is materializing in our libraries today, and the lessons we can learn from those stories.

AI literacy is not separate from information literacy. It’s an evolutionary stage of what librarians have been teaching for decades. Just as we teach users to question sources, understand bias, and verify facts, we must now help them interrogate algorithms, evaluate AI outputs, and grasp the social and psychological implications of automated systems.

Librarians can partner and influence those working with AI to help insure AI is used responsibly, as well as helping those using it to understand how trustworthy and ethical the AI outputs are.

• Faculty and researchers, who are navigating AI in publishing and pedagogy
• Corporate leaders, who must understand AI risks and limitations
• Policymakers, who need clarity on how AI impacts privacy, security, and society
• Tech developers, who can benefit from user-centered, ethics-informed perspectives
• The general public, who need trustworthy, accessible guidance on AI tools

As neutral, trusted information professionals, librarians are well-positioned to serve as the connective tissue between these stakeholders.

Imagine the impact of librarians leading university-wide AI literacy initiatives to help equip the next generation, collaborated with HR teams on staff training at corporations, consulting with organizations on standards and policies for AI. This does not have to be imagined. Many already are working in these spaces, while others are working in their existing field of influence by designing AI curriculum guides, leading public workshops, curating AI toolkits, and advising on institutional AI policies with their Institutional Review Boards (IRBs).

By spurring conversation and education around thoughtful and responsible AI use, libraries can be counterweights to the hype while helping provide grounded and trustworthy guidance for AI.

Learning about AI, how it works, where the pitfalls are, and how we can effectively teach these skills is a way to lean into the evolution of what it means to be a librarian. We won’t just adapt to change — we can help guide it. We can ensure AI is used to empower, not exploit. To illuminate, not obscure. To serve knowledge, not distort it.

This is why we are EBSCO have created the first installment of the EBSCO AI literacy short course. We want to help get folks who have been struggling to get up to speed, sort the facts from the hype, and help empower the library community to share their stories, their lessons learned, their tips and tricks around AI Literacy. This short course is just the start. A sneak peak into our other planned short courses are: 

1. Tips on integrating AI into existing training: Add AI literacy to information literacy sessions — talk about generative tools alongside evaluating sources.
2. How to build cross-domain partnerships: Ideas for collaborating with different departments, policy makers, standards development organizations, and more.  
3. Outreach resources: Publish AI toolkits, ethics guides, or use case scenarios, focusing on making AI literacy resources visible and shareable.

Librarians are moving into roles where they are partners in Responsible AI and trusted guides through the processes of assessing AI outputs, but many are looking for help to start their own journeys into this emerging space. If you cannot trust the information AI presents, it is useless. EBSCO is here to help foster librarians in helping to shape that future, and make the world of AI a little less nebulous and a lot more reliable.

Librarians have guided generations through new knowledge landscapes before. Now let’s do it again!