Library clerks and assistants
Library clerks and assistants classify, sort and file publications, documents, audio-visual and computerised material in libraries and offices.
- Employees (UK)
- 18k
- Median annual pay
- £18,659
- Exposure score ?
- 3.6/10 Low 7.5/10 High strict reading, with tools is 7.5/10 with-tools reading, strict is 3.6/10
- Wage exposure
- £121m £252m
Higher exposure than 92% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
A few tasks in this role are within reach of AI, mostly paperwork, scheduling and routine writing. The shape of the role stays the same, and some parts get faster.
If you are in this role
Pick the two or three most repetitive things in your week and try a model on them. Most people underestimate what Claude or ChatGPT already does with admin-shaped work. The time you get back is the gain.
Most of the routine work in this role can already be done by a capable model. The role does not disappear, but its shape changes, and one person can credibly cover the work of several.
If you are in this role
Stop spending time on what a model can do well. Your value is judgement, relationships and the parts of the work that need you in the room. Redesign the workflow around that before someone else does it for you.
Where the work usually starts.
These are the most important tasks a language model can already handle directly. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around them, so they stop eating the team's time.
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Classify and catalog items according to content and purpose.
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Enter and update patrons' records on computers.
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Maintain records of items received, stored, issued, and returned and file catalog cards according to system used.
These are the most important tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. The first wins usually come from building workflows around them. That is the difference between a model that could do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Classify and catalog items according to content and purpose.
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Locate library materials for patrons, including books, periodicals, tape cassettes, Braille volumes, and pictures.
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Enter and update patrons' records on computers.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Library Assistants, Clerical" (43-4121.00).
What AI can already do
11 of 32 tasks, unaided
Classify and catalog items according to content and purpose.
Enter and update patrons' records on computers.
Maintain records of items received, stored, issued, and returned and file catalog cards according to system used.
Perform clerical activities, such as answering phones, sorting mail, filing, typing, word processing, and photocopying and mailing out material.
Review records, such as microfilm and issue cards, to identify titles of overdue materials and delinquent borrowers.
Send out notices and accept fine payments for lost or overdue books.
Perform accounting and bookkeeping activities, such as invoicing, maintaining financial records, budgeting, and handling cash.
Design or maintain library web site and online catalogues.
Prepare, store, and retrieve classification and catalog information, lecture notes, or other information related to stored documents, using computers.
Select substitute titles when requested materials are unavailable, following criteria such as age, education, and interests.
Prepare library statistics reports.
What still needs a person
21 of 32 tasks
Sort books, publications, and other items according to established procedure and return them to shelves, files, or other designated storage areas.
Open and close library during specified hours and secure library equipment, such as computers and audio-visual equipment.
Locate library materials for patrons, including books, periodicals, tape cassettes, Braille volumes, and pictures.
Answer routine inquiries and refer patrons in need of professional assistance to librarians.
Manage reserve materials by placing items on reserve for library patrons, checking items in and out of library, and removing out-of-date items.
Lend, reserve, and collect books, periodicals, videotapes, and other materials at circulation desks and process materials for inter-library loans.
Instruct patrons on how to use reference sources, card catalogs, and automated information systems.
Inspect returned books for condition and due-date status and compute any applicable fines.
Register new patrons and issue borrower identification cards that permit patrons to borrow books and other materials.
Operate small branch libraries, under the direction of off-site librarian supervisors.
Process new materials including books, audio-visual materials, and computer software.
Provide assistance to librarians in the maintenance of collections of books, periodicals, magazines, newspapers, and audio-visual and other materials.
Plan or participate in library events and programs, such as story time with children.
Maintain library equipment, such as photocopiers, scanners, and computers, and instruct patrons in proper use of such equipment.
Schedule, supervise, and train clerical workers, volunteers, student assistants, and other library employees.
Repair books using mending tape, paste, and brushes or prepare books to be sent to a bindery for repair.
Operate and maintain audio-visual equipment.
Take action to deal with disruptive or problem patrons.
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.
Deliver and retrieve items to and from departments by hand or using push carts.
Assist in the preparation of book displays.
Tasks via O*NET "Library Assistants, Clerical" (43-4121.00).
What AI can already do
24 of 32 tasks, with tools
Classify and catalog items according to content and purpose.
Locate library materials for patrons, including books, periodicals, tape cassettes, Braille volumes, and pictures.
Enter and update patrons' records on computers.
Answer routine inquiries and refer patrons in need of professional assistance to librarians.
Manage reserve materials by placing items on reserve for library patrons, checking items in and out of library, and removing out-of-date items.
Lend, reserve, and collect books, periodicals, videotapes, and other materials at circulation desks and process materials for inter-library loans.
Instruct patrons on how to use reference sources, card catalogs, and automated information systems.
Inspect returned books for condition and due-date status and compute any applicable fines.
Maintain records of items received, stored, issued, and returned and file catalog cards according to system used.
Perform clerical activities, such as answering phones, sorting mail, filing, typing, word processing, and photocopying and mailing out material.
Register new patrons and issue borrower identification cards that permit patrons to borrow books and other materials.
Operate small branch libraries, under the direction of off-site librarian supervisors.
Process new materials including books, audio-visual materials, and computer software.
Provide assistance to librarians in the maintenance of collections of books, periodicals, magazines, newspapers, and audio-visual and other materials.
Review records, such as microfilm and issue cards, to identify titles of overdue materials and delinquent borrowers.
Send out notices and accept fine payments for lost or overdue books.
Schedule, supervise, and train clerical workers, volunteers, student assistants, and other library employees.
Perform accounting and bookkeeping activities, such as invoicing, maintaining financial records, budgeting, and handling cash.
Design or maintain library web site and online catalogues.
Prepare, store, and retrieve classification and catalog information, lecture notes, or other information related to stored documents, using computers.
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.
Select substitute titles when requested materials are unavailable, following criteria such as age, education, and interests.
Prepare library statistics reports.
Assist in the preparation of book displays.
What still needs a person
8 of 32 tasks
Sort books, publications, and other items according to established procedure and return them to shelves, files, or other designated storage areas.
Open and close library during specified hours and secure library equipment, such as computers and audio-visual equipment.
Plan or participate in library events and programs, such as story time with children.
Maintain library equipment, such as photocopiers, scanners, and computers, and instruct patrons in proper use of such equipment.
Repair books using mending tape, paste, and brushes or prepare books to be sent to a bindery for repair.
Operate and maintain audio-visual equipment.
Take action to deal with disruptive or problem patrons.
Deliver and retrieve items to and from departments by hand or using push carts.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Administrative and secretarial occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons