10 Great Ways to Help Patrons with AI
A Library 2.0 AI Workshop with Crystal Trice
OVERVIEW:
Patrons are already using AI, whether they choose to or not. It answers their searches, drafts their emails, recommends books that don't exist, and occasionally sends them to the library an hour before it opens. When something goes sideways, they bring it to the most trusted information professionals they know: library staff.
This workshop offers ten ways to meet those moments. Rather than requiring staff to become AI experts, this session builds on skills library workers already have: listening, verifying, teaching, and knowing when a question has become a safety concern. Participants will get concrete language for real desk conversations, from the invented book title to the phishing link, and leave more confident about the next AI question that walks in.
Library staff are skilled at handling uncertain needs without being an expert in every arena. "I'm not sure, but let's look at this together" remains a complete and professional answer, and this session shows how far it can carry both you and your patrons.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
- Apply ten practical approaches to patron AI questions, from coaching a first-time user to correcting a confident wrong answer
- Explain how AI works in plain, shame-free language that patrons can understand and remember
- Implement privacy and safety practices, including knowing when an AI mishap requires escalation or referral
- Transform recurring desk questions into programs, classes, and handouts your community needs
ACTIONABLE WORKSHOP ELEMENTS:
Over 60 minutes, participants will move through ten focused approaches, each illustrated with a real desk scenario and concrete language to use:
- Ask what they've already tried. Start with the patron's experience, so you learn what kind of help this really is before you guess.
- Explain how AI works in one breath. Deliver one honest, jargon-free sentence that explains most AI mishaps without making anyone feel foolish.
- Rescue the wild goose chase. Help the patron who drove in for an event AI invented, with validation first and a real next step before they leave.
- Solve the book that doesn't exist. Treat an AI-invented title as a reader's advisory opening, because the fake book reveals exactly what they wanted to read.
- Verify out loud, together. Check AI claims against official sources with the patron watching, and teach a lifelong skill in two minutes.
- Coach the practical task. Guide patrons through resumes, cover letters, and formal emails with AI, weaving in the caveats as you go.
- Protect their private information. Offer a memorable, judgment-free rule for what never belongs in a chatbot.
- Spot when AI leads somewhere unsafe. Recognize the phishing link, the bad medical claim, and the moment a question becomes a safety concern, and know your next step.
- Keep a short list of trusted doors. Build your team's go-to sources so the walk from AI mishap to authoritative answer is short.
- Turn questions into programs. Track the AI questions arriving at your desk and let them shape your next class, clinic, or handout.
The recording and presentation slides will be available to all who register.
DATE: Friday, November 13th, 2026, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm US Eastern Time
COST:
- $99/person - includes live attendance, anytime access to the recording and presentation slides, and a participation certificate. To arrange group discounts (see below), to submit a purchase order, or for any registration difficulties or questions, email admin@library20.com.
TO REGISTER:
Use the payment box above to register and pay. You can pay by credit card. You will receive an email within a day with information on how to attend the webinar live and how you can access the permanent webinar recording. If you are paying for someone else to attend, you'll be prompted to send an email to admin@library20.com with the name and email address of the actual attendee.
If you need to be invoiced or pay by check, if you have any trouble registering for a webinar, or if you have any questions, please email admin@library20.com.
NOTE: Please check your spam folder if you don't receive your confirmation email within a day.
SPECIAL GROUP RATES (email admin@library20.com to arrange):
- Multiple individual log-ins and access from the same organization paid together: $75 each for 3+ registrations, $65 each for 5+ registrations. Unlimited and non-expiring access for those log-ins.
- The ability to show the webinar (live or recorded) to a group located in the same physical location or in the same virtual meeting from one log-in: $299.
- Large-scale institutional access for viewing with individual login capability: $499 (hosted either at Learning Revolution or in Niche Academy). Unlimited and non-expiring access for those log-ins.
ALL-ACCESS PASSES: This webinar is not a part of the Safe Library All-Access program.
With over two decades of experience in libraries and education, Crystal Trice is passionate about helping people work together more effectively in transformative, but practical ways. As founder of Scissors & Glue, LLC, Crystal partners with libraries and schools to bring positive changes through interactive training and hands-on workshops. She is a Certified Scrum Master and has completed a Masters Degree in Library & Information Science, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and Psychology. She is a frequent national presenter on topics ranging from project management to conflict resolution to artificial intelligence. She currently resides near Portland, Oregon, with her extraordinary husband, fuzzy cows, goofy geese, and noisy chickens. Crystal enjoys fine-tip Sharpies, multi-colored Flair pens, blue painters tape, and as many sticky notes as she can get her hands on.
