AI exposure: Library Assistants, Clerical
Compile records, and sort, shelve, issue, and receive library materials such as books, electronic media, pictures, cards, slides and microfilm. Locate library materials for loan and replace material in shelving area, stacks, or files according to identification number and title. Register patrons to permit them to borrow books, periodicals, and other library materials.
Reading this score
computed35.4% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Library Assistants, Clerical at the 61th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.1 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
No single friction dominates this occupation. The strongest is embodiment at 1.57 out of 3 and the weakest is accountability at 0.59, which is a narrow spread. Where nothing structural stands in the way, exposure tracks capability almost directly, and capability is the thing that changes every quarter.
The most exposed thing this job does is Enter and update patrons' records on computers, at 86.7%. The least is Classify and catalog items according to content and purpose, at 0.0%. A gap of 86.7% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within office and administrative support occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 55.9% across the group's 51 roles, with 45 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 32 tasks, 19 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 13 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take capability alone, since there is little structural friction here to slow adoption once a system can do the work. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
32 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enter and update patrons' records on computers. | 86.7% | 13.3% | 0.0% | 4.27 | exposed |
| Answer routine inquiries and refer patrons in need of professional assistance to librarians. | 86.7% | 13.3% | 0.0% | 4.25 | exposed |
| Locate library materials for patrons, including books, periodicals, tape cassettes, Braille volumes, and pictures. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 4.28 | exposed |
| Prepare library statistics reports. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.40 | exposed |
| Maintain records of items received, stored, issued, and returned and file catalog cards according to system used. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 4.02 | exposed |
| Review records, such as microfilm and issue cards, to identify titles of overdue materials and delinquent borrowers. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 3.82 | exposed |
| Select substitute titles when requested materials are unavailable, following criteria such as age, education, and interests. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 3.43 | exposed |
| Perform clerical activities, such as answering phones, sorting mail, filing, typing, word processing, and photocopying and mailing out material. | 63.3% | 11.7% | 25.0% | 3.99 | exposed |
| Plan or participate in library events and programs, such as story time with children. | 61.3% | 26.2% | 12.5% | 3.76 | exposed |
| Acquire books, pamphlets, periodicals, audio-visual materials, and other library supplies by checking prices, figuring costs, and preparing appropriate order forms and facilitating the ordering process by providing such information to others. | 61.3% | 26.2% | 12.5% | 3.50 | exposed |
| Perform accounting and bookkeeping activities, such as invoicing, maintaining financial records, budgeting, and handling cash. | 60.0% | 40.0% | 0.0% | 3.70 | exposed |
| Operate small branch libraries, under the direction of off-site librarian supervisors. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.97 | exposed |
| Design or maintain library web site and online catalogues. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.59 | exposed |
| Inspect returned books for condition and due-date status and compute any applicable fines. | 43.8% | 18.8% | 37.5% | 4.06 | exposed |
| Send out notices and accept fine payments for lost or overdue books. | 41.7% | 20.8% | 37.5% | 3.82 | exposed |
| Prepare, store, and retrieve classification and catalog information, lecture notes, or other information related to stored documents, using computers. | 41.7% | 20.8% | 37.5% | 3.57 | exposed |
| Schedule, supervise, and train clerical workers, volunteers, student assistants, and other library employees. | 39.6% | 22.9% | 37.5% | 3.73 | exposed |
| Provide assistance to librarians in the maintenance of collections of books, periodicals, magazines, newspapers, and audio-visual and other materials. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.84 | exposed |
| Register new patrons and issue borrower identification cards that permit patrons to borrow books and other materials. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.98 | exposed |
| Process new materials including books, audio-visual materials, and computer software. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 3.93 | untouched |
| Operate and maintain audio-visual equipment. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 3.70 | untouched |
| Instruct patrons on how to use reference sources, card catalogs, and automated information systems. | 11.7% | 13.3% | 75.0% | 4.06 | untouched |
| Open and close library during specified hours and secure library equipment, such as computers and audio-visual equipment. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.31 | untouched |
| Take action to deal with disruptive or problem patrons. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 3.66 | untouched |
| Repair books using mending tape, paste, and brushes or prepare books to be sent to a bindery for repair. | 7.9% | 4.6% | 87.5% | 3.71 | untouched |
| Sort books, publications, and other items according to established procedure and return them to shelves, files, or other designated storage areas. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.33 | untouched |
| Manage reserve materials by placing items on reserve for library patrons, checking items in and out of library, and removing out-of-date items. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.22 | untouched |
| Lend, reserve, and collect books, periodicals, videotapes, and other materials at circulation desks and process materials for inter-library loans. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.09 | untouched |
| Maintain library equipment, such as photocopiers, scanners, and computers, and instruct patrons in proper use of such equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.74 | untouched |
| Deliver and retrieve items to and from departments by hand or using push carts. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.33 | untouched |
| Assist in the preparation of book displays. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.11 | untouched |
| Classify and catalog items according to content and purpose. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.28 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 2.11 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.57 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.64 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.59 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.29 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.75 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.