CURRENT POSITION Assistant Director, South Huntington Public Library, NY DEGREE MLIS, Queens College, 2006 FAST FACT Early on, Tanzi needed library tech access as much as his patrons did: “While my work PC had Windows 98, at home I was still running programs in DOS!” FOLLOW the-digital-librarian.com; linkedin.com/in/nicktanzi Photo by William Neumann Photography

Tech Talks

Nick Tanzi knew early in his library career that he’d focus on technology. As the World Wide Web gained prominence in the ’90s, he spent much of his time teaching internet and computer basics. After he became a digital services librarian, he created a training curriculum for staff and patrons that became his first book, Making the Most of Digital Collections Through Training and Outreach (Libraries Unlimited). 

Now he presents across the United States and internationally around 50 times a year about the intersection of libraries and technology, using his trademark conversational style. “People can feel vulnerable when they are unfamiliar with a topic, and you need to build an environment where they feel safe and open to asking questions,” Tanzi explains. His writing is featured in multiple books and magazines, as well as on his site, The Digital Librarian. 

Common questions Tanzi gets from librarians include how best to spend a limited budget on technology and how to build AI literacy in an ethical way. “When I give a talk or write an article on tech trends, I’ll find libraries integrating these ideas into their strategic planning, which is really gratifying!” he says. 

He’s expecting his focus in the near future to be on AI integration, as he gets a growing number of requests on the topic from library boards and administrators. “I’m happy to say that they’re approaching the technology with a healthy dose of caution and skepticism,” he says, “and seem to understand how central humanity and human creativity is to the library experience.”