Perceived benefits and constraints of artificial intelligence integration in teachers' college libraries: a TAM-based...

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has accelerated the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across knowledge intensive sectors, yet its integration in Library and Information Services (LIS) within resource constrained educational environments remains limited and under examined. This empirical paper seeks to explore the impact of AI integration in LIS and the associated challenges. This research examines the various applications of AI in libraries. The paper intends to identify the benefits and challenges associated with AI integration in libraries. This study adopted a qualitative descriptive design informed by phenomenological principles to study how AI application is perceived by key stakeholders to be beneficial and what barriers constrain AI uptake, and in what new areas AI can be applied in teachers' college libraries. The study was anchored to the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) where the effect of Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) on the stakeholders' preparedness to adopt AI was analysed as an interpretive lens. Sixty participants (library staff, ICT experts and Computer Science students) were interviewed in-depth, participated in focus group discussions, and were observed using structured observations. All data was analysed thematically using Braun and Clarke's six-step framework. Evidence found that there was no real implementation of AI in academic libraries. Actual usage was almost non-existent, mainly automated processes within existing library systems, such as those integrated within Koha. Nonetheless, the participants perceived AI as potentially useful for automating mundane tasks, increasing ease in locating information, providing an improved user experience, and for continuous availability through the use of chatbots. In spite of the strong perceived usefulness, the actual PEOU and institutional preparedness for AI are limited by infrastructure challenges, lack of funds, limited digital literacies of users, ethical issues, and wider issues of digital disparity. The study stresses the need for a context-specific AI governance strategy, building capacity of all stakeholders, and adoption of a phased approach in low-resource academic libraries. The findings provide new insights into Global South literature by presenting an in-depth, multi-stakeholder view of teachers' college AI readiness, emphasizing the interplay between technological novelty, infrastructural challenges, and ethics.