The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) is launching a two-year, statewide study to understand how communities are using generative AI and what might keep people from benefiting from it. The work will run through public libraries in every corner of the state.
The project, called “Local Libraries and Generative AI,” is a partnership between UNC’s School of Information and Library Science, University Libraries, the state library system and public libraries statewide.
The study runs from this summer through 2028 and is organized into five phases built around two cohorts of public libraries. The first cohort will focus on gathering information directly from communities about how generative AI is already being used locally, and where access, training or infrastructure gaps are getting in the way. The second cohort will then take those findings and build them into practical strategies for AI adoption, tailored to what individual communities need rather than a single statewide template.
While AI use is expanding rapidly, there’s been little previous research into how it’s playing out for ordinary residents outside school or office settings, particularly in rural areas where the local library help desk is often the most trusted source for understanding new technology.
North Carolina is not new to AI policy work, but most of it so far has centered on classrooms. The state’s Department of Public Instruction issued guidance on AI use in schools in 2024 and has run workshops and a student competition applying AI to public problems. This project extends that effort well beyond the walls of education, into the broader public to include job seekers, small-business owners, retirees and others, helping libraries be the hub for learning responsible AI use.
The timing also coincides with internal changes at UNC. The School of Information and Library Science is merging with the School of Data Science and Society into a single new school, officially launching July 1, as part of a broader university push to position itself around data, information and AI research.
The approach puts North Carolina among a small but growing number of states testing libraries as AI literacy infrastructure. New Jersey has run AI training sessions through its library system, and Oklahoma received funding last year to study AI in youth library programs. North Carolina’s version is larger in scale, involving 437 library branches across 100 counties over a period of two years with two cohorts.
Although the physical scale of the research is big, the larger measurement may be how successfully this study helps North Carolina navigate a path toward creating a framework for digital equity funding, workforce development, and state AI governance.
Photo by CramBetter.com, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
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