To be shocked the librarian was so poorly read?

[bendmeoverbackwards]

In the library recently reserving some books for dd. Librarian had not heard of A Handmaid’s Tale and did not know that As you Like It was written by Shakespeare.

These are not exactly obscure books!

AIBU?

Were they a librarian or a library assistant? Or an unpaid library volunteer? Librarian is a profession but there are relatively few actual librarians around. Most local libraries are staffed by unqualified, if keen, staff now.

A bit. The librarian might prefer different authors and know lots about books they are surprised you haven't heard of. Also I haven't read Shakespeare since school and they might not have either.

It’s THE Handmaid’s Tale.

I feel your pain.

I went in a while ago and asked if they had All Quiet on the Western Front. Blank look. "When was it published?" asked the librarian. I wasn't sure, but said probably late 1920s. "Ohhhh, it's an old book - no, we don't have any old books."

Mind you, nothing was worse than dd's English teacher saying she hadn't heard of Rebecca

Most councils got rid of all their fabulous trained librarians and have replaced them with unskilled staff and / or volunteers.

Massive shame.

There are thousands of books published every year. No one can read everything. Even extremely keen readers only read a few a week...
Shakespeare for example wrote a lot of plays. I could probably name 10or so. I doubt I'm that unusual.
Handmaid's tale... I'm pretty sure more people have watched the TV adaption than read it. And it wouldn't appeal to everyone.

They are librarians , not walking encyclopedias , we all have a clink in our knowledge somewhere

There are thousands of books published every year. No one can read everything. Even extremely keen readers only read a few a week...

Exactly. I read 100+ books a year and generally keep an eye on the market, but I had never heard of The Shadow of the Wind until 2019 when someone recommended it to me. The international bestseller that sold over 15 million copies.

You sound like a snob.

@KeyboardWorriers

Most councils got rid of all their fabulous trained librarians and have replaced them with unskilled staff and / or volunteers.

Massive shame.

I didn’t know this. We used to have a fantastic librarian, I wonder what happened to her.

I've done library work, and even 25 years ago the desk at the library was not usually staffed with a professional librarian. So the response you would get from enquiries would depend on how long the assistant/volunteer had been working there, and how much they had picked up during their time in the library.
However, anyone who volunteers to do library work (paid or unpaid) could be expected to like reading, so I can see why the OP was surprised that this library worker didn't know those particular books, they are very famous!

I may have a few chinks in my knowledge, but these are great gaping craters!

Who hasn't even heard of A Handmaid's Tale? Even if you haven't read it, it's general knowledge - and for someone working or even volunteering in a library not to have heard of a very famous book - well, that's quite astonishing.

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

There are thousands of books published every year. No one can read everything. Even extremely keen readers only read a few a week... Shakespeare for example wrote a lot of plays. I could probably name 10or so. I doubt I'm that unusual. Handmaid's tale... I'm pretty sure more people have watched the TV adaption than read it. And it wouldn't appeal to everyone.

I would not expect any librarian to have read every book. But to have a knowledge of the basics surely? There was so much hype about HT, how could anyone have missed it?

Nobody is saying that librarians should read everything, but I do think it’s unusual that he/she had not at least heard of the books mentioned by the OP.

I doubt you spoke to a proper librarian with a postgraduate education. The person was probably a min wage library assistant or possibly even an unpaid volunteer.

@IrmaFayLear

I may have a few chinks in my knowledge, but these are great gaping craters!

Who hasn't even heard of A Handmaid's Tale? Even if you haven't read it, it's general knowledge - and for someone working or even volunteering in a library not to have heard of a very famous book - well, that's quite astonishing.

Exactly my point @IrmaFayLear

People shocked that the librarian has never heard of A Handmaid's Tale is hilarious, it's called The Handmaid's Tale. If it's such general knowledge, then why can't people get the title correct?

To be fair a librarian can do their job without being well read, but a love of books would make the job more fulfilling.

Our library is mainly ‘staffed’ by volunteers now. If it wasn’t for them (and their tireless campaigning to keep it open), our local council would have closed the library years ago. It’s true that they don’t have the knowledge of a trained librarian, but but that would require the council paying properly for one!

Librarians qualifications have nothing to do with literature and their motivations may have nothing to do with a love or interest in literature. You may have read every classic known to the human race but if you can't master information management to some extent you'd be no use.

I think there's some serious subject bias here. Shakespeare knowledge, sure, I guess you'd expect a librarian (assuming, as PP have pointed out that she was a professional librarian and not just a volunteer etc) to know Shakespeare having had a fairly traditional education. But The Handmaid's Tale? Come on. Only people who are interested in feminist literature (or who have watched the TV show) would know that. Again, a professional librarian would likely know it on the basis that if, for example, they had a section for feminist literature, Margaret Attwood would be an obvious major contributor. But that assumes the library includes a specific section on feminist literature, which is a big assumption.

@GlutenFreeGingerCake

To be fair a librarian can do their job without being well read, but a love of books would make the job more fulfilling.

Not really, it's an organisational role with very little literature base other than the product they handle. If you had a love of literature you'd more likely work in teaching or publishing.

Don't be a snob.

It's likely the person was a volunteer or just someone on min wage.

Even if not... don't be a snob. And if you must be one, at least get the title of the book right

As an actual librarian I do find people’s presumption that everyone who works in a library is a librarian to be somewhat irritating!

Most people who work in libraries are not librarians. Especially not public libraries. They are volunteers or customer service assistants (usually having to deal with a myriad of council services as well as loans by books). They could have been a relatively new member of staff. I worked in a public library and although I’m not a big fiction reader over time you do get to know authors over time.

Surely part of the job is recommending books to library users? I would expect that in either a library or a bookshop.

I’m on your side @bendmeoverbackwards but I can see I’m in the minority.

Also, for the poster who said their daughters English teacher hadn’t heard of Rebecca.... Sadly not surprised. I’m an English teacher and I’ve met some really stupid colleagues over the years. And English teachers tend to be the brighter sparks of the staff room... a PE teacher I was chatting to the other day genuinely wasn’t sure who the current Prime Minister was. Horrifying.