Microsoft to help public libraries build AI literacy in communities
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A partnership with the Public Library Association looks to offer residents AI skills development to encourage career and education mobility.
A new partnership between Microsoft and the Public Library Association looks to boost artificial intelligence literacy nationwide through training services offered at local libraries.
Through the Building AI Skills and Agency Through Libraries effort, public libraries across the U.S. will have access to no-cost AI training and educational resources like webinars for library workers and customers, according to a blog post published last week by Justin Spelhaug, president of Microsoft Elevate, the company’s global skilling program.
“Right now is a time for us to really take the digital literacy work that libraries are doing and ensure that AI literacy is a part of that … to make sure people have the confidence and the [AI] skills they need,” Brandy McNeil, chair of the Public Library Association’s transformative technology task force, told Route Fifty.
The program aims to increase peoples’ access to and understanding of AI technology, how it works and how it can be used responsibly. Such efforts can help build the public’s career readiness, education opportunities and broader skills development as AI grows more prevalent in daily life, she said.
For library workers, the program will serve as a community of practice that supports the sharing of information and best practices for addressing AI literacy. Microsoft and PLA also plan to publish case studies and communications to increase awareness about the initiative and AI literacy more broadly. Experts also hope to use the program and initiatives like it to reinvigorate demand and funding for public libraries.
“For us, [the partnership] is definitely not about adoption, but more around making sure that [AI] access and knowledge are attainable for all library staff …. unless you have gained yourself some AI literacy and knowledge, you will not be able to help [others],” McNeil explained.
For instance, the AI literacy and training program could help residents better “navigate [government] tools and services that are being delivered in a new way … whether it's using an AI tool like a chatbot or navigating a new AI-driven platform,” said Nicole Steeves, director of library technology at Chicago Public Library, and a participant in the initiative.
“What I hope happens the most is that this project makes people think of the library first when they need assistance with any of these tools,” Steeves added.
Public libraries have been facing declining budgets and shrinking resource capacity in recent years, impacting the quality of and residents’ access to the facilities, according to a Government Accountability Office report released last year.
But “a project like this that includes libraries of all sizes from all over the country, and with a major with a major technology vendor, will help deliver the kind of professional skills for library staff that will help them be able to be prepared to get funding for projects that they want to do,” Steeves said.
AI literacy and education initiatives present an opportunity for library staff to advocate for more state or local funding to support their services, said Femi Adelakun, chief of research and data at the nonprofit Urban Libraries Council.
A ULC report last month found that Americans, especially those with lower incomes, are increasingly interested in free public infrastructure options like libraries in areas where access is traditionally limited. The report also found that demand for digital information sources, such as AI platforms, has been growing since 2019.
“It’s really a no-brainer that to make your city, neighborhood or county more attractive, you should invest in your public spaces like the library,” Adelakun said.
Libraries should use that demand for AI resources and services “to really engage the community” as residents navigate an AI-driven world, he said, particularly as the facilities “are perfect touch points for government to really extend public good to the communities that they serve.”