When this module appeared in the list, the title immediately brought artificial intelligence (AI) to mind because it’s the first tool humankind has encountered that can offer comparable capacity for infinite learning. This idea colored my exploration of the module’s materials, and sparked additional lines of thinking. So this post is more of a thought exercise than some of my other posts.
Libraries are intrinsically a human institution
Libraries are by people, for people. “We are the heart of our communities, and that only works because of what the people who run libraries give of themselves.” (Stephens). Holding on to that concept, how do we best serve and elevate the essential human qualities of our visitors? In order to make that happen, we must also simultaneously cultivate and elevate the essential human qualities of our library staff.
Image created with Deep AI, using a prompt requesting a library that is both inside and outside – I didn’t specify people and it seems AI doesn’t automatically add people to libraries!
Identifying essential qualities of being human
What, then, are some of these magical essential qualities – elements that separate us from AI, even though both humans and AI are capable of infinite learning? These are elements we’ve touched on in many different ways throughout this course: joy, love, creativity, and the capacity for caring/empathy. AI may be able to mimic these elements, but at least for the foreseeable future cannot deliver them as effectively as one human being to another.
A deeper look at infinite learning and development
Putting these two concepts together then, while we pursue the learning everywhere aspect we must also pair it with the professional learning outcomes. Technology is going to continue changing our world at such a rapid pace and so pervasively we have to take the learning everywhere approach in order to remain relevant. However, we have to continually challenge ourselves to stay on top of the changes. Underpinning it all is the need to always ask the “essential human element” question – are we making choices that are bolstering joy, love, creativity, and caring?
This might lead to a different approach to training library professionals, in addition to the core skills needed to run a library future course offerings could have more of an emphasis on psychology and related fields. Professional organizations such as the American Library Association (ALA) may move toward a credentialing system that includes regular CEUs (both in professional skills and human/soft skills) to help reinforce the importance of staying up with developments affecting the library field and the library experience. “Public librarians want to learn . . . and many want to do it continuously and with support from their employers. We should nurture all of our learners as best we can.” (Stephens, Partridge, Davis, & Snyder, p. 14).
“Libraries encourage the heart, which means we should lead from
the heart, learn from the heart, and play from the heart. It means
we are all-in all the time, not just when it’s convenient. It means
bucking the status quo to do the right thing at the right moment. It
means owning our actions as professionals. It means creating institutions
that expand minds and craft futures.” (Stephens, xiv)
Image Credit
Top image: Created with Deep AI, using a prompt requesting a library that is both inside and outside (including people)
References
Stephens, M. (2016). The heart of librarianship: Attentive, positive, and purposeful change. American Library Association.
Stephens, M., Partridge, H., Davis, K., & Snyder, M. (2022). The strategic, curious & skeptical learner : Australian public librarians and professional learning experiences. Public Library Quarterly, 41(3), 257–272. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2021.1893114
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2 thoughts on “Reflection: Infinite Learning”
Hi, Heather,
I think it’s interesting that AI didn’t automatically put people in the picture of a library; however, it does demonstrate what AI thinks the focus of a library is: books. I also like your idea of CEUs expanding to include soft skills, in addition to professional skills. We already see employers emphasizing soft skills and the impact this has on the workforce. Great post!
-Jenn
Thanks Jenn, AI’s quirks can be pretty amusing. I haven’t asked it to draw me a book cart lately, but the last time I tried I gave up – LOL. It simply couldn’t separate the idea of a shopping cart from a book cart. I do wonder sometimes if the pace of technology will drive an overall movement to more professions adopting a CEU approach.