The evolution of professional identity: How academic librarians perceive and adapt to the rise of generative AI in their daily work

Generative AI technologies are transforming academic library services, raising important questions about how librarians experience and adapt their professional roles. This study explores how Nigerian academic librarians perceive and respond to generative AI’s impact on their professional identity. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, we conducted narrative interviews and participant observation with 20 librarians across three Nigerian university libraries. Four central patterns emerged: librarians experienced anxiety about job obsolescence but developed new identities as AI mediators who teach critical evaluation skills; they established verification rituals to calibrate trust in AI outputs; and they faced significant gaps in institutional support, including formal policies, training resources, and ethical guidelines. Librarians did not passively accept technological change but actively negotiated their professional standing by setting ethical boundaries around AI use. These experiences occurred within broader institutional contexts characterized by limited governance structures and uneven resource allocation. Findings suggest libraries benefit from co-developing AI policies with librarians, integrating emotional labor awareness into professional development, and recognizing trust-calibration work as core to modern librarian roles.