--- title: "Will AI Replace Librarians? (2026)" description: "BLS rates librarians' exposure to AI as very high. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+2.6% projected)." canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-librarians" last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z" --- # Will AI Replace Librarians? (2026) **Short answer:** AI will reshape this job more than most, but BLS does not forecast it disappearing. The exposure is among the highest BLS measured, yet it still projects employment to grow. The Bureau of Labor Statistics places librarians in its very high AI exposure category, among the occupations most exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to change by +2.6% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 12,600 openings a year. | Measure | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | BLS relative AI exposure | Very high | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories | | NueCareer AI-resilience score | 29/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database | | Projected employment change | +2.6% | BLS EP 2025–2035 | | Openings a year | 12,600 | BLS EP 2025–2035 | | Median annual wage | $68,270 | BLS OEWS May 2025 | ## Exposure categories | BLS category | Occupations | | --- | --- | | Low | 203 | | Moderate | 194 | | High | 190 | | Very high (this job) | 199 | Exposure means AI could be or has been used to assist with or complete some of the work. BLS says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. Method: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm ## What holds up - Performing for or working directly with the public: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance) - Face-to-face discussions: 4.9/5 (O\*NET work context) - Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships: 4.3/5 (O\*NET work activity importance) - Dealing with the public: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work context) ## What AI reaches first - Processing information: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work activity importance) - Working with computers: 4.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance) - Documenting/recording information: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work activity importance) - Getting information: 4.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance) ## O\*NET tasks - Search standard reference materials, including online sources and the Internet, to answer patrons' reference questions. - Analyze patrons' requests to determine needed information and assist in furnishing or locating that information. - Plan and teach classes on topics such as information literacy, library instruction, and technology use. - Code, classify, and catalog books, publications, films, audio-visual aids, and other library materials, based on subject matter or standard library classification systems. - Confer with colleagues, faculty, and community members and organizations to conduct informational programs, make collection decisions, and determine library services to offer. - Review and evaluate materials, using book reviews, catalogs, faculty recommendations, and current holdings to select and order print, audio-visual, and electronic resources. ## Related careers less exposed to AI than librarians - [Career/Technical Education Teacher, Secondary School](https://nuecareer.com/careers/career-technical-education-teacher-secondary-school): BLS exposure High, median $66,270; [Will AI replace cte teachers?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-cte-teachers) - [Elementary School Teacher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/elementary-school-teacher): BLS exposure High, median $63,970; [Will AI replace elementary school teachers?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-elementary-school-teachers) - [High School Teacher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/high-school-teacher): BLS exposure High, median $72,040; [Will AI replace high school teachers?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-high-school-teachers) - [Middle School Teacher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/middle-school-teacher): BLS exposure High, median $64,370; [Will AI replace middle school teachers?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-middle-school-teachers) - [Special Education Teacher, Secondary School](https://nuecareer.com/careers/special-education-teacher-secondary-school): BLS exposure High, median $74,260; [Will AI replace special education teachers?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-special-education-teachers) - [Library Assistant, Clerical](https://nuecareer.com/careers/library-assistant-clerical): BLS exposure High, median $36,910 ## FAQ **Will AI replace librarians?** AI will reshape this job more than most, but BLS does not forecast it disappearing. The exposure is among the highest BLS measured, yet it still projects employment to grow. BLS defines exposure as AI being able to assist with or complete some of the work, and says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains or wage effects. BLS projects employment to change by +2.6% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 12,600 openings a year. **How exposed are librarians to AI?** BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Librarians are in the very high category, alongside 198 other occupations. The categories combine five public measures of where AI could be or already is used, and they compare occupations with each other rather than giving an absolute risk. **What parts of a librarian's job can AI do?** In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are processing information, working with computers and documenting/recording information. The parts that hold up best are performing for or working directly with the public, face-to-face discussions and establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method. **Is being a librarian a safe career from AI?** On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, librarians score 29 out of 100, higher than 21% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $68,270 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No job is fully safe from technological change, but the federal exposure category and the projected openings are the two numbers worth weighing. **What careers similar to librarians are less exposed to AI?** Career/Technical Education Teacher, Secondary School (high exposure, $66,270 median), Elementary School Teacher (high exposure, $63,970 median), High School Teacher (high exposure, $72,040 median), Middle School Teacher (high exposure, $64,370 median). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than librarians, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work. Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/librarian. --- This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105). O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology