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

The point is, if someone hasn't heard of it they are clearly not reading newspapers which I think is proof of ignorance.

Who reads newspapers these days? You don’t even see the Metro lying around on trains as much as you used to.

Agree cris also find it staggering someone that lives in England enjoys reading and likes history hasn’t heard of Wolf Hall and Hilary Mantel? How? She was one of our greatest contemporary writers and was often in the press and rightly so. Very sad at her early death actually she sounded like a lovely person no-one had a bad word to say about her. She couldn’t have children herself and mentored others.

Wolf Hall isn't a fleeting bit of culture, that's the thing. The point is, if someone hasn't heard of it they are clearly not reading newspapers which I think is proof of ignorance.

You're welcome to try me on any bit of culture considered essential and I will tell you honestly whether I've heard of it or not.

On the contrary, it's incredibly ignorant to expect everyone to share the same interests and be exposed to exactly the same fleeting bits of what you personally deem essential culture as yourself.

I bet there are countless films, books, plays or albums that many would consider "essential" you have not heard of. So what?

Is it? It's why I'm in IT, not libraries.

Yes. Why?

Also, the salary is fine in academic librarianship - which is what I've always done - plus a good pension scheme. Additionally, the feeling you are actually contributing something that I'd never get if working in a financial services type environment.

agree, but having recently looked for something decent to borrow from the local library I have to say that the dumbing down of the offering is not confined to school libraries as per this thread.

are you in the UK though?

agree. Salary earnt does not necessarily equate with education / IQ. If it did we'd all be taking our lives in our hands when we go into a hospital.

I'd be astonished if people hadn't heard of of Hilary Mantell, particularly after the dramatisations - at the same time, I despair of how ignorant people have become. The lack of knowledge of history and general knowledge is dreadful - no, actually, shameful.

That really really surprises me.

I think that having heard of Wolf Hall is basic general knowledge. Nothing to do even with reading!

My 22y son hasn’t read fiction for years. Hates reading. I just asked him if he had heard of Wolf Hall. He said, of course.

I am unsure if having won the Booker prize automatically turns a book into a modern classic or a household name with most of the winners being lost to the mists of time with their singular footnote in literary history being winning the Booker.
I would suggest you look at a list of Booker winners since the award's inception in 1969. I'd be surprised if most people, even avid readers, had read more than half a dozen of them or even heard of half of them.
I happen to know the names of all of the winners as I learned them for quizzing purposes but have only read about twenty-five myself, despite bing a constant reader.
I should say that I am aware that Wolf Hall is an extremely famous book, but I'm not sure its fame is entirely or even mostly predicated on its status as a Booker winner. I think that the whole trilogy is excellent.

I'd say most of us read but anyone considering the profession needs to realise it's techy job for a very long time. Maths skills, budgeting, IT are as useful as a degree in English. A school library will be about physical material but also online resources. Obviously, variables depend on resources up to a point.

When I say we read - I don't mean that reading the books we manage, catalogue etc. is part of the job universally. Arguably, it is in a school library. A working knowledge and some input into what goes into the collection likewise - although I'm fairly certain teachers will be doing a lot of the selection.

I was going to say this too. I think it's shockingly ignorant for ANYONE not to have heard of Wolf Hall, not just librarians.

I understand what a qualified librarian does and I still have no idea why anyone would want to be a librarian who doesn’t read. In a school it’s doubly staggering to not be able to engage with the children about books.

Librarianship is about organising knowledge. So the Librarian should be able to find the book, not necessarily be aware of it or read it when not at work on minimum wage.

But you would think that someone working with books would keep up to date with the book world for their own enjoyment.

Having said that, I heard an independent school librarian boast they don't read children's books!

Then, respectfully, you’re not that interested in either history or books.

She's not really a trained librarian is the answer. Schools can't afford that these days.

I'm interested in history, I'm interested in books, I have a television, I've never heard of it.

But, well done you! 🥇for knowing all that. You must be so proud.

Your postscript is rude. I don't appreciate reading that I'm not normal on a Saturday morning.

I did wonder if there are any other words which would spur you to post that someone is not normal but actually I'm not interested in any further contribution from you given your disrespectful post.

But she also never said that the person working in the library should have read Wolf Hall, did she?

No, you're right. It wasn't the best analogy. It's more like a supermarket worker who hadn't heard of Ben & Jerry's.