Joy in Shaping the Future of Librarianship: A Student’s Experience with Technology

By William Chan

I applied to the Master of Information (MI) program at the University of Toronto last year, knowing that librarianship was facing significant challenges. I had learned about these challenges through conversations with library staff and Faculty of Information students while working as an undergraduate library assistant. As I enter my second year and reflect on the technology projects I have worked on, I am more optimistic about the profession’s future. My experiences have shown me how librarians can harness technology while continuing to exercise the professional judgment and creativity that make our work meaningful.

This summer, I have been developing an automated visitor registration system with the archivist at the Richard Charles Lee Canada-Hong Kong Library. Using Microsoft’s Power Automate, the system aims to streamline internal communication. So far, it has at least cut the time spent on emails and phone calls between library staff, security and the public in half. It has proved popular among the community, as most visitors now register their visits through the system rather than by phone or email. While Power Automate is not an AI tool, we have used large language models (LLMs) for technical guidance throughout the system’s development, for example, to generate HTML and JSON code for displaying automated emails and messages.

My experience using LLMs to generate code has revealed the continued importance of human judgment, because artificial intelligence (AI) lacks true contextual understanding. In one instance, a LLM generated HTML code for an email template informing users that their request to visit the library had been rejected used a red colour palette for the text and border lines. It is understandable that an LLM might associate rejection with the colour red, but how would a user feel receiving such communication from the library? Does it align with our goal of making the library a welcoming space? In the end, we scrapped the idea of automating rejection emails and directed requests that need follow-up to human staff.

I think projects like this can benefit libraries in several ways. Staff and students can explore the possibilities enabled by generative AI and other technologies, which lower the barriers to tasks such as coding. At the same time, by learning their limitations, we can rediscover the value of human judgment and reaffirm our sense of agency amid challenges arising from budget constraints and AI-driven uncertainty. The positive impact of the visitor registration system on our community is evidence that library students and staff can navigate technological disruption and actively shape how new technologies are incorporated into library services to benefit our users. For me, that is a source of optimism and joy in the future of librarianship.

William Chan is a Toronto Academic Library Intern (TALint) at the University of Toronto Collection Development Department and a Graduate Student Library Assistant (GSLA) at the Richard Charles Lee Canada-Hong Kong Library. William can by reached at singhon.chan@mail.utoronto.ca