Introverts and Library Instruction: Challenges and Strategies

Abstract

When I first started library school, the idea of teaching never crossed my mind—I
pictured myself surrounded by books, not students. But everything changed in the
early 2000s, when I was unexpectedly offered my first teaching assignment. At the time,
I was working as a part-time reference librarian and eager to secure a permanent position,
so I embraced the challenge, not realizing that this moment would shape my academic
library career.
As a self-described introvert, teaching was not a skill that came naturally to me, and
up to that point, I had been very