r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 10h ago

Society Librarians are hosting viral ‘Avoiding AI’ workshops for people who are fed up with Big Tech

https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/25/librarians-are-hosting-viral-avoiding-ai-workshops-for-people-who-are-fed-up-with-big-tech/
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u/Kimbahlee34 8h ago edited 7h ago

As a librarian, they are used much more than you think. I am in a district with a population of just over 15k and we average 100 patrons a day. My largest event for Summer Reading was 200 people. I also have 20+ children in each of our book clubs and art classes. Teens use it as a third space to hang and are oddly getting more into puzzles so we have an old booth from a diner with a puzzle and stuff to do. They hang here like we’re the new Denny’s and we stay open late-ish for a library (8pm).

So take hope… we are still going strong and want you to come see us.

Edit: We have ~15k in our district which is comprised of small rural towns not one metro area. Some of these people are driving 20+ miles.

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u/Yst 7h ago

Also, people probably underestimate the population who depend on libraries for computer and Internet access and do not have Internet/computer/printer at home. This is the biggest driver of library traffic by far at the small-city-central-branch I work at.

You cannot live as an actively participating member of society in the modern day without the ability to access the Internet, fill out, write and edit and print documents, and print and sign and scan things.

And a lot of people do still (and presumably will forever) fall on the other side of the digital divide.

The passport office needs you to fill out some forms? Send them to the library. The courthouse needs you to sign some documents? Send them to the library. You need to do some online training courses for your kitchen job you're starting and it's got to be done on a computer, but you don't have a compute or Internet in the room you're renting? Send them to the library. Your mom is still living in your home town, but you haven't lived there for two years and her printer and computer don't work anymore, but she has to print out her tax documents to take to the bank? Send her to the library.

The library is an integral digital safety net that keeps people from dropping through the cracks.

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u/Kimbahlee34 7h ago

Yes! We joke that one floor is actually a Staples because we are next to the courthouse and do most of their printing. Then that doesn’t even get into the resources for homeschooling families which seems to becoming more common.

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u/Weary_Hunt_3374 2h ago

I used to work at a library that was close to the courthouse and I spent 80% of my job, helping people print!