How academic libraries are creating capacity for librarian expertise with Artificial Intelligence

Conversations about Artificial Intelligence in higher education often focus on teaching, learning and research. In academic libraries, some of the most immediate opportunities may be found elsewhere: in the operational workflows that consume significant staff time each day.

Academic libraries are under increasing pressure to support more users, more content and more institutional priorities with finite staff and resources. At the same time, many essential library processes remain highly manual. New research from Clarivate and Emerging Strategy examines how libraries are using AI to reduce administrative burden while keeping professional judgment firmly in human hands.

The experiences highlighted in the study suggest that the most useful question is not whether AI can perform library work, but where it can help create capacity for the work that depends on librarian expertise.

Creating capacity rather than replacing expertise

This new whitepaper highlights examples from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Library, both of which adopted AI to address specific operational challenges.

At the Nazarian Library, initial concerns about AI gave way to a more practical assessment of its role.

“It’s helping us do our day-to-day jobs in a quicker way, in a more efficient way, and leaves time for us to do the tasks that need more thinking and human decisions.”

Amit Niv, Head of Metadata and Process Management

These perspectives reflect a broader theme across the Academic AI Impact study. AI delivers the greatest value when it reduces time spent on repetitive preparation work, allowing librarians to focus on activities that require subject knowledge, judgment and oversight.

Scaling affordability initiatives at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, library leaders wanted to expand affordable access to course materials across more than 5,000 courses and course sections each semester.

The library sought to identify assigned materials, evaluate lower-cost alternatives and connect students with library-owned, licensed or open resources. Doing this manually at scale presented significant challenges.

Using the Leganto Syllabus Assistant, the library was able to transform syllabus content into structured reading lists, creating course materials data at a volume that would have been difficult to achieve through manual processes alone. Staff could then spend more time evaluating options, managing collections and supporting instructors rather than building reading lists from scratch.

“Our goal was always to grow that program as much as we could, and I see the Leganto Syllabus Assistant as a way to achieve a goal that we’ve had since the beginning, even before AI was something we could use to help solve our problem.”

Melissa Gomis, Chair of Collections Strategy & Open Scholarship

The lesson is straightforward: the technology was introduced to advance an existing institutional priority rather than to serve as a stand-alone initiative.

Improving cataloging workflows at the Nazarian Library

At the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Library, AI is used to support metadata enrichment and improve discoverability. Processing large volumes of theses, dissertations and other scholarly materials requires significant cataloging effort.

With Alma AI Metadata Assistant, staff can generate a first draft of descriptive content, extract information from source materials and receive suggested subject headings for review. Librarians remain responsible for the final record and for ensuring local standards are met.

As Niv emphasizes: “We go through all of the subject headings. We do human validation.”

The additional capacity has also made it possible to address work that might otherwise remain unfinished.

If your library is evaluating where AI fits within existing workflows, the whitepaper offers practical examples, implementation lessons and firsthand perspectives from library leaders using AI in reading list management and cataloging today. Download your copy here!