Columbia University Libraries welcomes applications for the part-time, remote Ask A Librarian Internship in the Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 semesters. The Ask A Librarian Internship provides currently enrolled Library & Information Science students with hands-on experience in academic librarianship. Interns will receive training and support from a librarian supervisor in order to assist users through the Ask A Librarian chat reference service. Additionally, interns will work in collaboration with their supervisor to conduct a project, such as preparing and delivering a workshop session, creating a research guide, or designing library outreach initiatives.
The Ask A Librarian Internship Program seeks to provide meaningful working experiences that relate to the goals and interests of the intern. BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) Library & Information Science students are highly encouraged to apply.
Applications will be accepted from July 6th to July 19th, 2026. Applications received before or after this time will not be considered.
Fall 2026: Three positions will be available for the Fall 2026 semester. Interns are anticipated to start August 31st, 2026, with an expected end date of December 23rd, 2026, for a period of approximately four months total.
Spring 2027: Three positions will be available for the Spring 2027 semester, which we are also recruiting for at this time. Interns are anticipated to start January 11th, 2027, with an expected end date of May 14th, 2027.
Location:
The internship will be conducted remotely. Interns residing in the New York City area will have the option to conduct project work at Columbia University’s Morningside Campus if desired.
Pay Rate:
$25/hour
Schedule:
The schedule is an average time commitment of 14 hours per week, but can vary week to week. It includes nine hours of chat reference staffing during evenings and/or weekends, and up to five hours of working on a project. Evening and weekend chat reference hours include Monday-Friday 5pm to 8pm, and Saturday-Sunday 12pm to 6pm (Eastern Time Zone). There is some flexibility in scheduling, and interns are encouraged to swap chat reference shifts with one another as needed.
Duties:
- Provide research assistance to Columbia University students, faculty, staff, alumni, and external researchers through the Ask A Librarian chat reference service
- Conduct a project with the guidance of a librarian supervisor
- Meet with librarian supervisor once per week
- Participate in monthly all-group internship meetings
Interns will work on one of the following projects, which can be completed remotely unless otherwise noted. In your application cover letter please describe which project(s) you are most interested in and why.
Universal Design for Learning in Library Instruction. Availability: Fall 2026. This project includes research, an instructional materials review, and collaborating on a workshop with the librarian supervisor for Columbia Librarians. The intern will begin with the research portion, creating a bibliography of recent scholarship and LibGuides about Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. These principles will inform an evaluation of current instructional materials for undergraduate writing, auditing materials and identifying opportunities for growth. We will present the interns research findings about UDL in an interactive workshop for other teaching librarians at the end of the semester. This project is ideal for someone interested in accessibility and library instruction for undergraduates.
Information Literacy Materials for Social Work Researchers. Availability: Fall 2026. The intern will observe and then contribute reference services during weekly Social Work Library information literacy and reference drop-in sessions. After learning about the specific information literacy needs of social work students through observation, literature review, and discussions with the supervising librarian, the intern will design and develop information literacy handouts on social work specific topics for use during research consultations or in one-off workshops. The intern for this project must be able to work physically in the Columbia Social Work Library on Wednesdays from 12:00-2:00pm.
Learning About and Leading Library Instruction. Availability: Fall 2026 and Spring 2027. The intern will begin this project by observing different librarians' online instruction sessions (including workshops as well as course-integrated instruction when possible), and learning about instructional best practices using readings selected by the librarian supervisor and modules from the Columbia Center for Teaching & Learning. Then, the intern will lead two online library workshops (on the topics of using the library catalog, searching databases, or using Zotero), and one workshop on a topic of the intern's choosing that they will design and teach toward the end of the semester. This project will be ideal for someone excited about teaching in libraries who would like to gain hands-on instructional experience.
Local Language Models: Teaching a New Technology to Library Users. Availability: Spring 2027. This intern will assess available technologies for running language models (LMs) locally, evaluating different models’ ease of use and performance related to specific tasks. Based on this assessment, the intern will make recommendations about which (if any) local LM technologies and tools are most appropriate to feature in a Columbia Libraries workshop. The intern will then design and deliver a hands-on workshop for Columbia users, covering how to set up, configure, and work effectively with locally-deployed language models to accomplish specific goals. Finally, the intern will document their experience in a brief report which includes recommendations for future work. This project is ideal for someone who already has some comfort using the command line, is excited about teaching in libraries, and would like experience researching a new technology and presenting it to a library audience.
Supporting Entrepreneurship through Research Support. Availability: Spring 2027. This intern will provide research support to entrepreneurs at Columbia in the form of updating a heavily used research guide, observing research consultations, and the opportunity to lead a workshop on a topic formulated with the support of the Business & Entrepreneurship Librarian. After becoming familiar with relevant resources at the Libraries and observing research consultations, the intern will use the LibGuides platform to update the organization and resources included on the Entrepreneurship research guide and teach an online workshop session for Columbia affiliates interested in entrepreneurship. This project will be ideal for someone interested in gaining hands-on reference and research support experience.
- Must be currently enrolled in a Master of Library & Information Science (MLIS) program and have completed at least one semester (or equivalent) at time of application. Preference is given to applicants who have completed a reference course in their MLIS program.
- Demonstrated effective communication skills
- Interest or demonstrated ability to provide high quality research assistance
- Ability to work evenings and/or weekends (5-8pm Monday-Friday and 12-6pm Saturday-Sunday, Eastern Time Zone)
As an opportunity designed for current MLIS students, we are unable to consider applicants who have completed their MLIS degree.
Applicants must reside in the United States to be eligible for this position.
To Apply:
Please submit a cover letter and resume to the Ask A Librarian Internship Coordinators at AskALibrarianInternship@library.columbia.edu by Sunday, July 19th at 11:59pm Eastern Time Zone.
Submit your cover letter and résumé as a single document (preferably PDF), with the naming convention: Lastname_Firstname_Application.pdf
Your cover letter should include:
- How you meet the qualifications required for the internship
- Which project(s) you are most interested in conducting and why
- Which semester you wish to be considered for: Fall 2026, Spring 2027, or no preference
We expect to notify successful applicants in early August, and unsuccessful applicants in mid August.
Please note that there is no interview process for Ask A Librarian Interns, and candidates will be offered a position based solely on the strength of their application materials. Because of this, for the best chance of a successful and personalized application we do not recommend the use of generative AI assistants to draft your materials.
For Questions or Additional Information:
Please contact the Internship Planning Team at AskALibrarianInternship@library.columbia.edu.
