OVERVIEW:
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the information landscape, and libraries find themselves at the forefront of this evolution, grappling with unprecedented challenges. AI is being adopted by staff, patrons, and vendors—often informally and without clear guidance—while organizational policy, training infrastructure, and ethical consensus lag behind. Libraries across the globe face pressure to respond to these rapid technological changes while lacking clear direction, institutional support, or adequate resources. Leadership teams are navigating everything from enthusiasm to apprehension, struggling with questions about how to keep pace with technological advances, address ethical concerns, and create policies that truly align with their organizational values and mission.
Our ten-week Library Leadership Team Cohort is designed to empower library leaders and their teams to move from uncertainty to clarity by creating a thoughtful, actionable roadmap for AI integration. This program focuses on the critical leadership work of policy development, ethical framework creation, and strategic planning that libraries desperately need—not generic technical training. Participants will interact with peers facing similar challenges, exploring AI's potential while addressing ethical, practical, and community-specific considerations to ensure responsible and effective use. The cohort provides a structured framework to develop tailored AI policies, whether for immediate implementation or for submission to governing bodies for approval.
Throughout the ten weeks, participants will create actionable roadmaps that address both the opportunities and concerns surrounding AI in library settings, emphasizing practical outcomes and strategic leadership development. Your team will explore the ethical considerations surrounding AI, establishing a core set of principles that align with your library's mission and values while building the organizational capacity to adapt as AI technology continues to evolve. The program emphasizes developing change management skills, stakeholder engagement strategies, and the confidence to navigate an uncertain landscape, ensuring that participants can lead productive conversations about AI with staff, boards, and community members.
By the end of the program, your leadership team will have a comprehensive AI roadmap, a clear set of ethical guidelines, and a strategy to communicate and implement these plans effectively within your organization. More importantly, you will be equipped with the tools and agility needed to respond confidently to AI's rapid advancements, adapting policies and practices as technology evolves while maintaining a commitment to patron trust and service excellence. This program is an investment in the future of your library, ensuring that you can harness AI's potential responsibly—enhancing rather than overshadowing the human-driven mission that defines library service.
KEY OUTCOMES:
The ten-week Library Leadership Team Cohort will equip library leaders with the tools, knowledge, and strategies to navigate AI integration responsibly and effectively. Below is a list of the outcomes your team will have the opportunity to achieve.
- Strategic AI Roadmap
A comprehensive, detailed, and actionable library-specific plan, tailored to your library’s mission, community, and strategic goals. Your roadmap outlines goals, policies, training plans, and pilot ideas—ready to guide implementation efforts aligned with your mission and capacity. - Ethical Framework and Policies
A core set of ethical principles addressing privacy, copyright, equity, and accountability, designed to guide responsible AI use. Participants will develop clear, well-crafted policies ready for board or council approval, fostering transparent and ethical AI practices across staff and services. - Staff Engagement and Training Strategic Plan
Strategies to build staff buy-in, address resistance, and foster a culture of continuous learning. The cohort provides a framework for upskilling staff, equipping them with the skills to use AI effectively and ethically while emphasizing critical thinking and human-centered service. - Tools for Community Confidence, Patron Trust, and Clear Communication
Plans for how to communicate AI strategies clearly to patrons, boards, and municipal partners, using a shared language that builds trust. Transparent policies and thoughtful programming can reassure your community about AI’s role, strengthening support for library initiatives. - Improved Information Literacy
A plan to help patrons, boards, and community members understand what AI is—and what it isn’t. Participants will gain tools to develop public programming, create resource lists, and communicate clearly about the library’s role as a trusted guide in a rapidly evolving information landscape. - Evaluation and Selection of AI Tools
A practical framework for assessing and selecting AI tools that suit your library’s needs, balancing innovation with reliability and ethical considerations to enhance workflows like content summarization or idea generation. - Privacy, Risk, and Misinformation Planning
Proactive approaches to minimize staff-related AI risks, such as misinformation, bias, and privacy concerns, ensuring safe and accountable use in library operations. Participants will build literacy frameworks and internal messaging strategies to navigate these challenges with confidence. - Internal Review and Equity Planning
Build an inventory of your library’s existing infrastructure, assess AI readiness, and identify gaps in digital equity and staff capacity. Participants will create a realistic plan to expand access and close opportunity gaps where possible, helping more patrons and staff engage meaningfully with AI tools, training, and services. - Future-Readiness and Flexibility
Strategies and systems to monitor AI trends and developments, to update policies, and to evaluate new tools so that your library can adapt confidently to rapid changes in the AI landscape while staying aligned with its mission. - Peer Networking and Shared Learning
Connections with a supportive network of library leaders and practitioners in your cohort who are facing similar challenges. Participants will be able to share resources, spark new ideas, and grow a community of practice that extends beyond the 10-weeks.
FORMAT AND TIMING:
The cohort will meet each week for 2 hours starting September 24th, 2025. and continuing weekly for ten weeks. Meetings will be on Wednesdays from 2:00 - 4:00 pm - US Eastern Time.
All sessions will be recorded and can be viewed by the next business day for those unable to attend any given sessions.
INCLUDED:
The program will include:
- Direct instructional time;
- Templates, tools, and sample documents;
- Training plans, policy drafts, and community engagement strategies;
- Guest speakers on selected topics;
- Open question and answer blocks;
- Connection and communication with a peer group of other library leaders;
- Additional devoted coaching support time specifically with your team;
- Team access to the Library 2.0 AI webinar and workshop recordings;
- A 90-minute post-program special training for all of your library staff;
- Discounted access to Library 2.0 AI recordings for library/system staff if wanted;
REQUEST FOR PARTICIPATION:
Please fill out the request form HERE.
We will reply with more information and a preliminary quotation for participation. You are under no obligation by requesting this information. We will schedule 30-minute pre-commitment calls with organizational leaders or teams who decide they want to move forward.
If you have any questions, you can email admin@library20.com.
ORGANIZERS:
With over two decades of experience in libraries and education, Crystal Trice is passionate about helping people work together more effectively in transformative, yet practical ways. As founder of Scissors & Glue, LLC, Crystal provides hands-on consulting to libraries and local governments, specializing in strategic planning, organizational design, and process improvement. Her approach blends deep experience in public service with practical strategies and a people-centered mindset.
Crystal is a Certified Scrum Master who brings Agile thinking into the heart of public-sector work. She has guided libraries through strategic planning, structural change, and complex improvement initiatives—helping teams align priorities, streamline operations, and adapt with flexibility. Her participatory processes emphasize transparency and momentum, resulting in meaningful, sustainable change grounded in real input and built for daily use.
She also led a six-month artificial intelligence consultancy for the Southeast Florida Library Information Network (SEFLIN), supporting four distinct library systems through surveys, training, coaching, and policy development. The initiative helped staff move from uncertainty to confident, mission-aligned experimentation.
"This was an awesome experience and has given us momentum to move forward—AI is not something to be ignored!" —Charles Lockwood, St. Lucie County Library
"The consultancy helped motivate staff to continue their investigation of AI... Truly a positive all the way 'round." —Dr. Rachel Schipper, Society of the Four Arts
Crystal regularly presents on artificial intelligence in libraries, helping teams navigate new tools with confidence and care. Other areas of expertise include project management, workflow redesign, and change management. She is currently writing The Skeptical Guide to AI.
Crystal holds a Master’s Degree in Library & Information Science, a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and Psychology, and is a Certified Scrum Master. She resides near Portland, Oregon, with her extraordinary husband, fuzzy cows, goofy geese, and noisy chickens. Crystal enjoys fine-tip Sharpies, multi-colored Flair pens, blue painter’s tape, and as many sticky notes as she can get her hands on.
Steve is the founder and director of the Learning Revolution Project and Library 2.0, the host of the Future of Education and Reinventing School interview series, and has been the founder and chair (or co-chair) of a number of annual worldwide virtual events, including the Global Education Conference and the Library 2.0 series of mini-conferences and webinars. He has run over 100 large-scale events, online and in person.
Steve's work has been around the democratization of learning and professional development. He supported and encouraged the development of thousands of other education-related networks, particularly for professional development, and he pioneered the use of live, virtual, and peer-to-peer education conferences. He popularized the idea of "unconferences" for educators, and for over a decade, he ran a large annual ed-tech unconference, now called Hack Education (previously EduBloggerCon).
Steve himself built one of the first modern social networks for teachers in 2007 (Classroom 2.0), developed the "conditions of learning" exercise for local educational conversation and change, and inherited and grew the Library 2.0 online community. He may or may not have invented an early version of the Chromebook which he demo'd to Google. He blogs, speaks, and consults on education, educational technology, and education reform, and his virtual and physical events and online communities have over 150,000 members.
His professional website is SteveHargadon.com.
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