AI Readiness in Academic Libraries: A Transdisciplinary Analysis of Leader Perspectives

This paper examines how academic library leaders perceive AI integration through a qualitative study of eleven expert interviews. Using Grounded Theory, the authors identify six core AI framings, ranging from efficiency tools to systemic governance challenges. The research introduces a "Three-Axis Model" of AI readiness—comprising ethical operationalization, governance horizons, and user theory—to serve as a diagnostic framework. The study concludes that AI readiness is not a simple technical state but an aspirational, multidimensional condition, requiring libraries to adopt a transdisciplinary approach, bridging ethics, pedagogy, computer and data science, urging academic libraries to move beyond simple AI adoption toward institutionally governed and professionally sustainable integration by 2030.