American university's washington college of law, in partnership with NC state university's open knowledge center and researchers at the university of north carolina at chapel hill, university of south…

The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded American University $857,432 under the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (CFDA 45.313) on September 1, 2026, to investigate the relationship between librarian practice and artificial intelligence implementation. The project, titled Project Grant RE260023OLS26, will run through August 31, 2028, with place of performance in Washington, DC.

American University's Washington College of Law leads the research in partnership with NC State University's Open Knowledge Center and researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of South Carolina, North Carolina Central University, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The project team will explore roles librarians should play in AI governance, copyright expertise they need to develop, and curriculum addressing new technological and legal challenges. The research supports library and information science graduate programs in training librarians to serve as experts in information policy for emerging technologies.

American university's washington college of law, in partnership with NC state university's open knowledge center and researchers at the university of north carolina at chapel hill, university of south carolina, north carolina central university, and university of illinois urbana-champaign, will investigate the relationship between librarian practice and the thoughtful implementation of artificial intelligence (AI). The project team will explore roles librarians should play, copyright expertise they might need, and other potential curriculum to address new technological and legal challenges. This applied research project will help librarians, and the LIS programs that train them, meet the need for legal and policy training to serve their core mission as experts in information policy for emerging technologies such as AI.