Carolina Melo, Associate Professor at the School of Education and Director of the Library at Universidad de los Andes, participated in the NSSA Conference 2026, organized by the National Student Support Accelerator (NSSA), an initiative of SCALE at Stanford University. The conference brought together researchers, policymakers, and education practitioners to discuss the future of high-impact tutoring.
Melo attended the conference as part of her role as an affiliated researcher at the School of Education, through an ongoing collaboration with Professor Pelusa Orellana and Stanford scholar Susanna Loeb. In late 2024, the three researchers were awarded a Stanford International Research Exploration (IRE) Seed Grant, which supports the development of new international collaborations and lays the groundwork for larger-scale research projects.
During her academic visit to Stanford, Melo had the opportunity to explore a range of initiatives focused on learning, applied research, and artificial intelligence. Among them were the Stanford University Libraries and AI Tinkery, a community led by the Stanford Accelerator for Learning that encourages participants to explore, experiment with, and learn about generative AI in educational settings.
The visit provided valuable insight into how university libraries continue to play a central role within one of the world’s most dynamic innovation ecosystems—not only as spaces for accessing information and knowledge, but also as hubs for collaboration, experimentation, digital literacy, and interdisciplinary learning.
“At AI Tinkery, the invitation is to play and tinker—to experiment, ask questions, and explore emerging AI tools through guided support, workshops, resources, and hands-on learning experiences. This approach is especially inspiring when thinking about the role of university libraries at a time when artificial intelligence is transforming how we search, read, conduct research, teach, and learn,” said Melo.
She also emphasized the evolving mission of academic libraries in the AI era.
“University libraries have a key role to play in developing critical capacities across the academic community. In a context characterized by an abundance of information, increasing automation, and the growing use of generative technologies, supporting students, faculty, and researchers in the ethical, informed, and creative use of AI has become a fundamental responsibility.
