Preparing for the long commute to campus from San Antonio’s Northside, Kimberly Grotewold browses through her top five podcasts in her hybrid Toyota Camry.
She selects one — probably “AI Daily Brief” — and listens while driving on Loop 1604.
Listening to podcasts on the daily drive helps Grotewold get into the mindset of new things happening in AI technology.
Grotewold, Texas A&M University-San Antonio AI librarian and Innovation Lab supervisor, is a go-to person on campus for any AI expertise.
Like many librarians, she has expanded her role to adapt to new technology and AI tools. In fact, she expanded all the way to a doctorate from the University of North Texas.
Her doctoral research focused on AI in education.
“When I first enrolled in the UNT program, one of my first classes was a philosophy and perspectives class in educational technology and I started learning about analytics based on algorithms,” Grotewold said. “It helps students find content for a pathway that is most relevant for them to complete a course or program. I started looking into the learning analytics piece and learning more about how backends of these systems work. …Generative AI came about, and I got sucked in.”
Grotewold started her journey at A&M-San Antonio in 2018 as an education librarian. She earned the AI librarian title in September 2025, while also supervising the innovation lab in the library.
Lifelong learner and able to adapt to technology, Grotewold received a Ph.D. in Learning Technologies in 2024 from the University of North Texas.
Grotewold completed her dissertation on generative AI adoption in education. Her research surveyed educators worldwide about generative AI and its use in education.
Grotewold’s research has been cited over 400 times and published for public view. She is proud of her work and was fulfilled to research artificial intelligence since after 2020 AI tools expanded as a tool in education and virtual learning.
The role of AI librarian fits Grotewold since she says she likes educational tools and it aligned with her dissertation research. Throughout the many AI platforms she has worked with, her current favorite is Claude.
“I have been using Claude for at least two years,” Grotewold said. “In my early days of using it, I was trying to create an alternate visualization of a SmartArt diagram I had made in PowerPoint. I was doing iterative prompting, where I started with a prompt telling Claude the basic task, and then for each design Claude returned, I would try to tweak it with a follow-up prompt. I think it is a helpful tool for brainstorming, process planning, some types of research and basic coding instruction.”
This spring Grotewold hosted three AI workshops to teach students about the tools accessible to them and how AI can be helpful for research purposes. She hopes to host more workshops in the future.
Deirdre McDonald, assistant director at the University Library, has had a pleasant experience working with Grotewold.
“She would bring back ideas to our research services team about educational technology and AI that could really help us enhance our services. She loves to give back to the community by sharing information and providing support for learning,” McDonald said.
Megan Gonzalez, arts & sciences librarian, also had a positive experience working alongside Grotewold.
Gonzalez said Grotewold has “had a lot of resources and expertise to share” with the research department in the library, and Grotewold even helped change her perspective on AI.
“I collaborated with her on a class that showed how AI could be used to create a strategic plan for research, and I was impressed by the care she put into her lesson. I have been critical of AI in the past, but Kim’s efforts have helped me learn how it can be used effectively,” Gonzalez said.
The University Library has expanded research and efforts to learn more about upcoming technology such as AI to better serve students. Grotewold uses her position to further help those around her better understand the platform at hand.
Outside of her work on campus, Grotewold spends time with her husband of almost 30 years and her two dogs. She also loves to exercise, swimming and the elliptical machine in particular, to release stress and decompress.
Grotewold has lived in seven states and loves to watch crime and police dramas such as “Mismatch” a French drama.
Grotewold said she plays around with AI models during her free time and sees what they are capable of. She prompts coding capabilities into AI and navigates how it can make tasks easier.
Grotewold suggests students visit her to help with any research ideas and AI questions. She is available on campus for appointments to work with her one on one.
“I meet students where they are and take them to the next step,” Grotewold said.
For the foreseeable future, Grotewold would like to continue to grow her career in the university library and does not see herself going elsewhere. She described future goals of focusing more on her AI librarian role and data analyst capabilities with faculty.
Grotewold gave a piece of advice to those attempting to finish their degree.
“Think of your end goal. Think of what you will get out of the journey. Your journey of education is what sticks with you after you are done completing your degree,” Grotewold said.
To see more of Grotewold’s efforts at A&M-San Antonio, visit: https://libguides.tamusa.edu/prf.php?account_id=178898
