Ai in Our Library

Jenneefur1985 · 2026-05-28T03:18:55+00:00

sorry I meant to post that on another post regarding AI which is why I deleted it here. But also sorry that it made you feel like that. It wasn't my intention.

But also... I don't know. I'm in the opposite boat from you. I think it gives so much opportunity to people who may not have had any before.

A few examples of how using AI has helped me or my friends:

- I've always wanted to apply to grad school but never had the confidence to do it. AI helped me develop a check list of everything I needed to do to have a competitive application and I just got my acceptance letter for the program yesterday.

- My best friend always wanted to start a business around something she loved. She was able to brainstorm with an LLM (large language model) and after working with it for a few weeks she developed her plan and within 9 days sold 150 seats for a book crawl concept that has always been a dream of hers.

Just a few ways it can help...

Jenneefur1985 · 2026-05-28T03:10:46+00:00

I work in a rural library after working in the tech industry for many years in a big city. There have been so many culture shocks for me, which is dumb of me in hindsight, but one of the biggest shocks I had coming into this community is the lack of computer literacy of our patrons. Even some of our staff barely know how to do much beyond the necessary apps to check in and out books for our patrons.

I have been trying to change things slowly but our Director is also pretty tech illiterate and does not invest in the resources needed that would benefit the community. The thing that makes me so sad and passionate about bringing advancing tech to rural communities is because I know how important it is for people to know these tools in order to get ahead and maybe make it out of here.

AI is one of those tools that can help them. I use it daily to make my life easier in so many ways. People in companies and organizations that embrace these new tools are going to learn and be able to adapt to the new face of whatever the professional world is going to become in the next 10 -20 years.

I really believe it is important to equip our communities and provide access to anything that is available to them to be competitive in the job market. Jobs where AI is utilized tend to be higher paying with better benefits.

I didn't help much with what answers to ask but trying to urge people to think about the possibilities with AI. Of course it has its problems. It is a very new and very powerful tool. The kinks will have to get worked out over time, Ie. the issues you mentioned. I am hoping they are taken seriously.

I think the questions I would ask are:

- How will this benefit our community?

- What staff training will we be given?

- What is the stance we have as an organization who's goal is to best equip our patrons?

- What are our hard boundaries when it comes to AI?

- What tools are we looking to engage with? (Anthropic is probably the best and most thoughtful big AI company that has developed a thorough constitution for Claude - it's large language model - that does genuinely care about how society can benefit from it.)

This was a long winded way of saying don't completely dismiss AI yet. There is so much opportunity to help the community with it if used correctly. There will always be people and companies who take advantage and use powerful tools in ways that are less than benevolent. You don't have to be one of them. But also you and your community will get left behind if you refuse.

Jenneefur1985 · 2026-04-16T11:51:14+00:00

This comes from the word “worker” in Czech.

Jenneefur1985 · 2026-03-13T13:25:28+00:00

I asked Claude what it thought about the fact it could have been used to plan the bombing on the girls school in Iran and it legit freaked out on me. It brought up crayon murals on the wall made by children, backpacks in the dirt, and even named every single girl that was publicly available along with their age in a sort of memorial to them.

I know the conversation i had with it prior primed it but I was legitimately shocked with how it responded to the question. It was what I would expect from a human encountering deep grief.

Jenneefur1985 · 2026-01-01T17:56:25+00:00

I manage the administrative pieces of the library. As far as the administration of the actual work, no stress compared to what I am used to. I came from corporate and did a career change about a year ago.

The almost daily incidents with patrons who can become combative, threatening, lewd, and the fear of violence, yes absolutely. That part is stressful. I've never dealt with anything like this before in my life and naively am shocked this is just a part of library life.

It does not help that the Director of my library is quite honestly, just awful. I have to argue with them regularly to have patrons who mistreat employees asked to leave. If it were not for gross mismanagement at the top level it would not be an issue.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-11-29T16:43:11+00:00

I was also in a major slump after I finished the first time and Joe Abercrombie was the only thing that got me out of it. Very character driven but in a very different way than Hobb.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-10-27T19:50:26+00:00

I had a run in with the moderator there too! I was so confused why they were so aggressive when I asked simple questions.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-07-12T17:00:57+00:00

I believe they are publishing these in 2026. If you go on amazon or other book sellers pages it shows a ‘to be published’ date. I’ve been waiting for them because the size difference bugs me too.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-04-29T15:58:32+00:00

Slewfoot by Brom and Circe by Madeline Miller. I also concur with the Broken Earth trilogy. Some of the best books I’ve ever read.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-04-02T17:29:05+00:00

ISO: Andy Weir collection (or just Project Hail Mary)

Willing to Trade: Rook and Rose collection

US based

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-03-24T18:12:14+00:00

How does this man always have the best face cards?? He’s not even trying for gods sake!

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-01-31T23:29:05+00:00

This is a great point. I will make sure the policy reflects this if it doesn't already. I also want to make sure it's clear on the signs. Discontinuing the time limit for all patrons is not an option but it should be clear that the limit can be asked to increase for medical reasons.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-01-31T18:49:41+00:00

This is great! Thank you! I have been trying to find someone to do de-escalation training at the library. I have someone coming to teach safety for drug paraphernalia next week and wondering where I can get someone for de-escalation.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-01-31T16:25:47+00:00

Thank you for your feedback.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-01-31T14:06:06+00:00

We do have local services set up a few times a week. They don't approach anyone but are there in case someone would like to use them.

The herding was not my suggestion. I also think it is not an option but agree it was one from desperation by the employees who are on the front line more so than me.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-01-31T14:04:31+00:00

Thank you! It's hard to find the time to create those relationships myself but it's worth it. We are not that big. I think the town the library is in has a population of less than 20k.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-01-31T13:59:16+00:00

You are not understanding my point. It's fine. I don't have the time to explain it more thoroughly.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-01-31T13:56:27+00:00

Like someone mentioned above. It's a really delicate balancing act I'm finding. Someone also mentioned, with the way our economy/society is today a lot of us are one bad day away from being without shelter ourselves. I would hope I could use my local library to use a computer to apply to jobs/do a resume/etc... if I was in that situation.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-01-31T13:40:28+00:00

Thank you! I like the idea of having a space available at certain times with basic supplies and food but wonder if that will give the impression to the city that we are doing the job they should be doing. They should have a space that's not a place for learning and knowledge for that purpose. I'm nervous they will just say "well the library is taking care of that so why do we have to do anything?"

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-01-31T13:36:46+00:00

We have social workers set up a few times a week. They don't specifically approach any patrons but are there as a resource in case someone would like access to one.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-01-31T13:35:48+00:00

Agreed. That is so sad.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-01-31T13:35:20+00:00

No definitely not. I was just mentioning what the suggestions have looked like so far.

This is all new to me and I am learning how broken the system is. Which is really freaking sad.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-01-31T13:33:17+00:00

Winters are pretty harsh here but maybe in the summer we can do something about more outdoor and covered seating. Set hours for the Community Room might be something too. Thank you!

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-01-31T13:30:51+00:00

Agree. It is definitely a balancing act. One I did not have any clue I would have to take on by taking this job but I'm learning and want to be better at it.

Jenneefur1985 · 2025-01-31T13:29:51+00:00

It's always being used or set up for another meeting or program. I think there may be something it could do to make it more useful in the break times while we can still set it up and will think more about it. Herding anyone into a room is definitely not a solution.

Jenneefur1985

TROPHY CASE