Young people often come to libraries with partial answers already in hand. Search results, social feeds, and conversational AI systems may have shaped the answers they bring. Private discovery asks how much a young person must reveal before reaching help. Amanda Gray Perry of the University of Notre Dame moderated Core’s Top Tech Trends panel. Speakers working in public libraries, academic libraries, and library technology examined AI, metadata infrastructure, discovery tools, and media access. In my presentation, “Private Discovery by Design: AI Infrastructure in Teen Services,” I posed the question directly: When does a teen’s inquiry become data? Values Before Tools Nicole Steeves, Director of Library Technology at Chicago Public Library, set out a values-based approach to AI. She argued for AI investment when a proposed use improves patron service, protects privacy, preserves staff expertise, and includes human review. She drew clear limits around reference search, readers’ advisory, and traditional…
Category: Critical Thinking
Mindfulness and Breathing During a Pandemic
As we continue to stay at home, continue to provide remote programming, and continue to miss large family gatherings, this month’s post from the Intellectual Freedom Committee provides some picture books to help us take a step back and breathe a little.
Picture Books Get Kids Talking -and Thinking
Is the delight of sharing a picture book also an opportunity to foster social and emotional growth, laying the foundation for critical thinking skills?