{"id":54,"date":"2026-07-23T17:58:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T17:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/?p=54"},"modified":"2026-07-23T18:00:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:00:50","slug":"reflection-blogging-new-horizons-robots-or-social-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/2026\/07\/23\/reflection-blogging-new-horizons-robots-or-social-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflection Blogging: New Horizons\u2014Robots or Social Workers?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of our course materials for this module that stood out to me was Tom Scott&#8217;s video about robots performing library tasks in Helsinki. Among their roles is sorting and shelving books. Of this work, he comments, &#8220;don\u2019t waste a librarian\u2019s time with tasks that a computer can now do.\u201d But this made me wonder\u2014could the robots potentially be taking away that work from a library tech or paraprofessional who may enjoy the work or wants to work at a library but doesn\u2019t have an MLIS? How much do the robots cost versus the hourly wage of a human, and is that even the best way to determine which jobs should be replaced or automated? These questions seem especially relevant today when so many people are worried (rightly so, in my opinion) about how their job prospects will be affected by the newest AI applications (Wasik, 2026).<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Why Helsinki&amp;apos;s library robots aren&amp;apos;t important\" width=\"676\" height=\"380\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dPb9o3uDF_Q?start=217&amp;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In the video, Scott ends with the statement \u201cmost libraries don\u2019t have robots, but every library does have librarians\u2014and they\u2019re what\u2019s important.\u201d In the comment section under the video, Scott reiterates this point that people are integral to the functioning of a library\u2014robots not so much.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-56\" src=\"http:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/546\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-170035.png\" alt=\"A screenshot of a YouTube comment from Tom Scott saying &quot;I feel like I should apologise to Romeo and team for the title, but I think he&apos;d be the first to agree: the library can exist without robots. It can&apos;t exist without people.&quot; \" width=\"1137\" height=\"112\" data-wp-editing=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/546\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-170035.png 1645w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/546\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-170035-300x30.png 300w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/546\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-170035-1024x101.png 1024w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/546\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-170035-768x76.png 768w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/546\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-170035-1536x151.png 1536w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/546\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-170035-676x67.png 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1137px) 100vw, 1137px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In this moment, when it can feel like there is a rush to integrate new technology into our institutions to stay current, I think it&#8217;s especially important to recenter humans in the conversation. Whose livelihood might be impacted by turning to AI agents to serve our patrons? Will patrons enjoy interacting with new technology at every turn, or will they miss some of the human touches that staff traditionally brings to their experience?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-55 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/546\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-173513-1024x608.png\" alt=\"An illustration of two cupped hands: one holds a human figure surrounded by butterflies and flowers with a green heart in the background, the other holds a depiction of a computer network\" width=\"676\" height=\"401\" data-wp-editing=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/546\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-173513-1024x608.png 1024w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/546\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-173513-300x178.png 300w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/546\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-173513-768x456.png 768w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/546\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-173513-1536x912.png 1536w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/546\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-173513-676x401.png 676w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/546\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-173513.png 1723w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The most touching\u2014and arguably, meaningful\u2014new horizon featured in this module was the trend of libraries employing social workers to uplift and assist members of their community that have the greatest needs (State Library of Iowa Continuing Education, 2023; Wright, 2023). Pam Sandlian Smith&#8217;s (TEDx Talks, 2013) account about the unhoused boy who put on a puppet show in her library for 30 patrons also highlights how the smallest interaction can make the biggest difference.<\/p>\n<p>I appreciate that this class encourages us to approach technology from a humanist perspective, and this seems like the approach that most people in our communities are rallying for.\u00a0 In addition to highlighting AI, the 2024 IFLA Trend Report pointed to people seeking connection as a major trend. I believe it is our job going forward to honor and prioritize this need for connection as we make decisions about technology (and spending) in our institutions.<\/p>\n<h2>Resources<\/h2>\n<p>International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA). (2024). <span class=\"dont-break-out\"><em>IFLA Trend Report 2024: Facing the future of information with confidence<\/em>. <a href=\"https:\/\/repository.ifla.org\/items\/ae4dfcc0-8def-4318-8c4c-7f0507d15609\">https:\/\/repository.ifla.org\/items\/ae4dfcc0-8def-4318-8c4c-7f0507d15609<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Scott, T. (2019, October 14). <em>Why Helsinki\u2019s library robots aren\u2019t important<\/em>. [Video]. YouTube. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dPb9o3uDF_Q&amp;t=217s\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dPb9o3uDF_Q&amp;t=217s<\/a><\/p>\n<p>State Library of Iowa Continuing Education. (2023, February 14). <em>The Outreach Project: A library-social work partnership<\/em>. [Video]. YouTube. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7iquPzVICfI&amp;t=2808s\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7iquPzVICfI&amp;t=2808s<\/a><\/p>\n<p>TEDx Talks. (2013, December 16). <em>What to expect from libraries in the 21<sup>st<\/sup> century: Pam Sandlian Smith at TEDxMileHigh<\/em>. [Video]. YouTube. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fa6ERdxyYdo&amp;t=148s\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fa6ERdxyYdo&amp;t=148s<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Wasik, B. (Moderator). (2026, June 14). The A.I. Work Force Is Here. <em>The New York Times Magazine<\/em>, 26. <a href=\"https:\/\/link-gale-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org\/apps\/doc\/A892167974\/STND?u=csusj&amp;sid=bookmark-STND&amp;xid=9a6536d1\">https:\/\/link-gale-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org\/apps\/doc\/A892167974\/STND?u=csusj&amp;sid=bookmark-STND&amp;xid=9a6536d1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Wright, G. (2023, April 10). <em>Des Moines Public Library adding social worker position<\/em>. WHO 13 Des Moines. <a href=\"https:\/\/who13.com\/news\/metro-news\/heres-what-services-the-des-moines-public-librarys-social-worker-position-will-provide\/\">https:\/\/who13.com\/news\/metro-news\/heres-what-services-the-des-moines-public-librarys-social-worker-position-will-provide\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of our course materials for this module that stood out to me was Tom Scott&#8217;s video about robots performing library tasks in Helsinki. Among their roles is sorting and shelving books. Of this work, he comments, &#8220;don\u2019t waste a librarian\u2019s time with tasks that a computer can now do.\u201d But this made me wonder\u2014could [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":820,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","post-preview"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/820"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions\/60"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/lauraskor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}