CALL Academy's 2026 AI Training Mini-Cohorts are built for California library staff who want useful, practical AI skills without the hype. Offered from February through July, the series provides a month-by-month path through the major questions libraries are facing: What is AI? How can we use it responsibly? How do we evaluate its outputs? What policies and safeguards do we need?
Each mini-cohort takes place over one week, with live Zoom sessions on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. The Tuesday session provides a recorded introduction and Q&A, while the Thursday open lab and Friday reflection session create a more informal space for conversation, experimentation, and shared learning.
By the end of the series, participants will have explored AI from multiple angles: patron communication, content creation, research and misinformation, equity and community concerns, policy implementation, and chatbot development. It is a practical training track for libraries looking to build staff capacity while keeping ethics, accuracy, and community trust at the center.
Session titles
- AI Clarity: Helping Patrons (and You!) Understand AI
- AI Studio: Creating Words, Images, and More With AI
- Just the Facts: Knowledge, Research, and Information in the AI Age
- Equity Lens: Addressing AI Equity and Community Concerns
- Policy Playbook: AI Policy Development and Implementation
- Bot Builder Lab: Build-a-Chatbot Workshop
