to think a school librarian should have heard of Wolf Hall and actually read books?

I’d expect anyone with even a passing interest in fiction to be aware of books that have won the Booker prize. However, I’d have to see the school librarian’s job description to assess whether that knowledge is essential. I’ve read 3 books by Hilary Mantel including Wolf Hall, and wouldn’t particularly recommend them…

You didn't talk to a librarian who doesn't read books. You talked to a friend who told you something that may well have been somewhat distorted in the telling. Not sure it calls for a Mumsnet thread bemoaning the state of school librarianship.

I think we have to be realistic about what we expect people to do for the money we offer. It's likely a very low paid position, so the scope of the job reflects that. Yes it would be great if school library staff were experts in literature and I agree it's a sad state of affairs that they aren't, but in reality the wages on offer are probably only enough to attract someone who can organise the books and keep track of what comes in/goes out.

Agree that she can't be a qualified librarian - postgrad librarianship qualifications are highly competitive. I was put off applying and I've read every book in the world (possibly a slight exaggeration).

My DD works in a secondary school LRC she's not a librarian but is responsible for cataloguing books, sectioning the genres, promoting new books and authors, wall book displays, running book week etc. There are over 4000 books in the LRC. She's not heard of Wolf Hall.

All this is true but a key role of a school librarian is to recommend books suited to the kid, ideally with a little stretch to help them improve the quality of what they read. Now you don’t have to have heard of every book on the planet but you need to be knowledgeable about literature.

Never heard of it. I read every day without fail.
Id suggest if OP wants a full librarian at the school she decides what she wants the school to defund in order to fund that.

I bet your friend is fun at parties...

I work in academic library science. I do think the school librarian should have heard of Wolf Hall. I don't necessarily feel they should have read any specific book. Being a reader of books in general is a good quality in the job, but not absolutely necessary.

My pet hate is people who think librarians 'sit and read books all day'. I think some of them might notice if all our platforms, ejournals and other services went down/offline because we were busy reading. Also, I need a lot of skills to do my job and many have a quite insulting view of what we do whilst also benefitting from everything from online services to reading lists and beyond.

The standard is so low nowadays. For kids and adults. It’s not about whether you read/are aware of high quality literature, it’s whether you read at all. So if you read exclusively Dog Man, that’s fine.

At DS's school the lady that runs the library isn't a librarian. She's there for the admin of doing the books in and out and to supervise the library.

I don't think many schools can afford proper librarians

Not classic as in very old, but it won the Booker ffs.

Are they actually a librarian though? I wouldn't have thought many schools have the resources to fund a qualified librarian.

I went to a very good school which set a lot of store by reading and had a decent library. It was staffed by teachers on a rota.

Yeah that's pretty poor.

YANBU to think a school librarian should have an interest in books and read them.

YABU to be horrified she hasn't heard of Wolf Hall. She can't be expected to have heard of and read EVERY book and Wolf Hall isn't exactly classic literature

We didn't have a school librarian, just a library room. My English teacher would recommend books. There's also the actual library in town.