Career Explorer Education
Changing shape
Librarians and media collections specialists
Administer and maintain libraries or collections of information, for public or private access through reference or borrowing. Work in a variety of settings, such as educational institutions, museums, and corporations, and with various types of informational materials, such as books, periodicals, recordings, films, and databases. Tasks may include acquiring, cataloging, and circulating library materials, and user services such as locating and organizing information, providing instruction on how to access information, and setting up and operating a library's media equipment.
Among the careers AI is changing fastest: more resilient than 18% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is very high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it very high), and US jobs are projected to change by +2.6% by 2035, slower than average. The work leans on emotional intelligence and creative vision.
AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.
- Median pay (2025)
- $68,270
- Job growth to 2035
- +2.6%
- Openings a year
- 12,600
- People doing it (2025)
- 142,000
- Usual route in
- Master's degree
Where people already use AI for this work
- Provide general assistance to others, such as customers, patrons, or motorists
- Gather information from physical or electronic sources
- Perform administrative or clerical activities
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Train others to use equipment or products
- Replenish inventories of materials, equipment, or products
- Maintain operational records
What the work looks like
- 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.
- Supervise daily library operations, budgeting, planning, and personnel activities, such as hiring, training, scheduling, and performance evaluations.
- 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.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Teaching assistants, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 32, +2.7%
- ArchivistsChanging shape, Index 20, +3.4%
- Educational instruction and library workers, all otherChanging shape, Index 26, +1.8%
- Postsecondary teachers, all otherChanging shape, Index 20, +2.0%
Also known as: Librarian, Library Media Specialist, Reference Librarian, University Librarian, Catalog Librarian, Cataloger, Reference and Instruction Librarian, Research Librarian.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.