Ready for the Future
Stories from our 2025 Donor Impact Report
AI Upskilling
A New Kind of Literacy
AI is here, and with support from Google.org, TPL is helping Torontonians learn the essentials.
After 15 years of building a career in digital marketing, Prachi Salvi was suddenly let go from her job in 2025. It was a shock, she says, but it gave her the space to contemplate her next move. The more she thought about it, the more she kept coming back to AI.
She figured any future role would likely demand AI skills that she didn’t yet have. It was time to learn how to use the new technology on the job. Through a quick online search, she found Google AI Essentials, a course designed to teach learners about how the technology works, how to apply it in a professional setting, and how to think critically about its limits. She felt the fee wasn’t manageable at the time, so on a whim, she searched for what TPL had to offer—and found exactly what she was looking for.
“They were offering the same Google course for free.”
Prachi is one of more than 1,500 Torontonians who has taken the course at no cost, since the program launched last April. The opportunity is made possible with support from Google.org, the philanthropic arm of one of the world’s largest tech companies, and its AI Opportunity Fund.
Google AI Essentials is offered both online and in person through TPL Learning Circles. These groups are led by a knowledgeable librarian who guides
participants through the material. After working through modules on their own, learners come together to tackle the parts they found challenging together. The course covers practical skills like prompting, and ethical issues such as human oversight, misinformation and the limits of what AI-generated output can be trusted to do.
“When you join a group of motivated learners and a facilitator who encourages that learning experience, it really ups the course completion rate,” says Yoojin.
Prachi completed the course online in fall 2025 and applied what she learned to her job search. As her confidence grew, she added AI-driven strategist to her LinkedIn profile, her own consultancy and began advising clients on AI-led marketing.
“It was like a stepping stone for me,” she says. “I started from prompting, and now I’m at the stage where I am creating agents that help small businesses. I can advise them on where AI can be used and where it can’t.”
What’s Next for AI at TPL?
The AI Upskilling Initiative is funded through 2026, but Yoojin says they’re already receiving feedback that’s signalling what comes next.
“People are looking for opportunities to upskill even more, and that creates an opportunity for us to roll out a tiered learning experience, building on the foundations we’ve built this past year,” she says.
As the next step, TPL is offering learning circles focused on Google Prompting Essentials, an intermediate companion course to AI Essentials. And there are more learning opportunities to come. The library also hosts free public AI events and an Innovator in Residence program, which brings in working AI practitioners like digital artist Karen Vanderborght and composer-producer Joel Silver, to offer hands-on, AI creative learning opportunities for customers.
“It’s about developing an informed learning experience,” says Yoojin, “so that going forward, people can make informed decisions about the technology and how they use it responsibly.”