The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the work to gain knowledge about AI tools is performed within a specific unit at a university library. Moreover, the thesis aims to identify what kind of AI literacy that is developed within the studied unit. The fast development of AI in society in general also has strong implications for university libraries. While the relevance of new knowledge about AI is recognised throughout the library community, a research gap remains in terms of how knowledge about AI tools is acquired. Semi structured interviews with nine employees at the studied library were carried out. The collected data was coded and analysed according to qualitative content analysis. As theoretical framework sociocultural theory and the concept of learning organisations were used.

This study shows that the respondents develop knowledge about AI and AI tools through various types of activities. One of them is to take part in organised learning opportunities. Two other activities are when the respondents explore certain AI tools individually, and when AI tools are included in the interaction with the library users. Moreover, the results demonstrate that the respondents’ learning about AI tools is situated in both the interaction with users and colleagues.

In conclusion, the development of three areas of AI literacy is identified within the studied library unit:competences to evaluate the relevance of AI tools for the library, competences related to how AI can develop existing working methods, and the competence to inform the users about the possibilities and risks with AI tools.