Librarians as architects: Roles in the age of generative artificial intelligence

This study explores how academic librarians interpret and negotiate their evolving professional identities as generative artificial intelligence becomes integrated into research-support environments. Using the interpretative phenomenological analysis approach, interviews captured how librarians make sense of shifting roles, emotional tensions and changing expectations of expertise. Four interconnected themes emerged: identity reconstruction, emotional ambivalence, boundary redrawing and the influence of institutional conditions. The findings show that AI adoption is not simply a technical transition but a lived socio-emotional process shaped by organisational support, policy clarity and peer collaboration. Rather than replacing librarianship, generative AI presents opportunities for expanded advisory roles, ethical mediation and AI literacy instruction provided that institutions supply adequate training and structural support. The study contributes to ongoing discussions on responsible AI adoption in academic libraries by offering a phenomenological account of professional transformation.