The American Library Association vs. Librarians

Sending a concerning message

Photo by Trnava University on Unsplash

The AI School Librarian notes some concerning messaging coming from the American Library Association.

Why Is ALA Giving a Platform to a Company Promoting “AI Librarians”?

After publishing my deep dive into Librar Labs, several people reached out to point out something I had not yet noticed.

Librar Labs is currently listed as an exhibitor at the ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition this June.

Honestly, the more I sit with that, the more concerning it becomes.

This is a company whose own marketing language promotes systems supposedly “intelligent enough to not need a trained librarian” and capable of helping schools manage libraries “even before you find a librarian.” (librarlabs.com)

And somehow, at a moment when librarians across the country are fighting staffing cuts, deprofessionalization, censorship, and attacks on public institutions themselves, the largest professional organization for librarians is giving this company visibility and legitimacy on the profession’s biggest stage.

The issue is the normalization of replacement narratives during a time when libraries and librarians are already under extraordinary pressure.

There is a massive difference between:

• technology designed to support librarians
  
  and

• technology marketed around the idea that librarians themselves are increasingly unnecessary.

That distinction matters.

And honestly, I think a lot of librarians are exhausted from constantly having to explain why it matters.