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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be shocked the librarian was so poorly read?

927 replies

bendmeoverbackwards · 25/05/2021 10:25

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?

OP posts:
CaptainOatFlosser · 26/05/2021 09:33

@mermaidsariel

As You Like It and The Handmaid's Tale are very very well known to anyone with any interest at all in reading.
No, they aren’t. Reading is varied, personal and specialist. I know someone who is an expert in YA and manga, I asked them and they’ve never heard of AYLI and have only heard of THT since the series.
Lweji · 26/05/2021 09:41

@mermaidsariel

As You Like It and The Handmaid's Tale are very very well known to anyone with any interest at all in reading.
I don't think that's true at all. The Handmaid's Tale only came to my attention through the TV series and mentions here, and I have more than a passing interest in reading. I have read it, since then and before watching the series, unlike the OP, though.
LolaSmiles · 26/05/2021 09:42

CaptainOatFlosser
I'll bet your friend with an excellent knowledge of Manga wouldn't dream of saying "(INSERT BOOK TITLE HERE) is very well known to anyone who reads".
My friends who read lots of science fiction are similar. They have a brilliant knowledge of the genres they like, and have actually introduced me to some sub-genres that I'd not have found otherwise, but they wouldn't be able to list Shakespeare plays. According to some on this thread they clearly mustn't read much. Grin

Lweji · 26/05/2021 09:44

I was someone who used to be taken to the library every Saturday by my father, and I developed a life long love of reading as a result.

I really wish it worked like that. It certainly didn't with DS. Sad

CaptainOatFlosser · 26/05/2021 09:50

Exactly that @LolaSmiles, it’s mad to think that someone should know of something just because you do. Reading is so personal and just because you love reading doesn’t mean you have necessarily heard of certain titles. You don’t have to read things, or even learn about them, if it doesn’t interest you. Yes if a book is requested often you may learn about it, but in a library I doubt many people are borrowing AYLI! That librarian might have an excellent knowledge of Mills and Boon or French novels, no one knows.

LolaSmiles · 26/05/2021 10:02

You've hit the nail on the head CaptainOatFlosser.

It's bizarre that anyone would go through life thinking that their knowledge should be everyone's knowledge. It's such an arrogant view to think that because I know something, someone else should. It's even more bizarre that those or us who challenge that attitude get accused of thinking reading is poncey, dismissing general knowledge, having an issue with people learning things etc.

My one of DH's former colleagues mispronounced words regularly. The colleague encountered many of these words from reading and doesn't have a social group that uses more complex vocabulary regularly, but he enjoyed being able to talk about topics and books at work. Could you imagine some people on this thread in that situation? We'd have a mumsnet thread saying I can't believe my colleague can't even pronounce...

JennieLee · 26/05/2021 10:03

I think the only time I have been asked for Shakespeare plays in years of library work, is when parents have wanted to acquire copies of set texts for their older children. If a play is on the exam syllabus it will be heavily reserved. No adult that I can remember has requested plays for any other reason.

A modern piece of literary fiction will normally either be requested for a reading group - there is a separate system for multiple reservations - or because it has been filmed or on TV.

If literary knowledge is needed by a library assistant, it is probably far more useful to know what is the most recent novel by Lee Child or Dan Brown. We also get asked when the new novels by bestselling authors are coming out.

The publishing industry is very broad indeed and it also changes very fast.

As many people have said, expecting library assistants to be well up in modern and classic literature, when so many other skills are fundamental to the job, just shows out of touch a lot of Mumsnetters are.

Ted27 · 26/05/2021 10:30

I think I probably aquired my love of reading from my nan

she read Mills and Boon, Catherine Cookson and Barbara Cartland

I read a lot, travel, history, politics, current affairs and biography and auto biography, gardening related plus crime/ thrillers

Very little other fiction of any era
Does that mean I’m not well read ?

echt · 26/05/2021 10:37

@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?

Years ago when reserving Anna Karenina at local library, was asked for the author's name. When I said Leo Tolstoy, they said, so that's Leo Tallstory?

Christ on a bike.

Actually, on a certain level it was quite apposite.
The reality is they were thick as shite.

Scratchpostkitty · 26/05/2021 10:55

Do tbey actually need to know? Surely ypu just enter it on a computer system and that's it. Admittedly, it's a bit weird not to have heard of it, but on the other hand, does it matter?

CaptainOatFlosser · 26/05/2021 10:55

Yes because anyone who hasn’t heard of Tolstoy must be ‘as thick as shite’ 🙄

Vivi0 · 26/05/2021 10:58

As You Like It and The Handmaid's Tale are very very well known to anyone with any interest at all in reading

Don’t be ridiculous.

I’ve never heard of The Handmaid’s Tale, and it took me some time to place As You Like It as I haven’t read anything by Shakespeare in a long, long time.

I’ve devoured everything by Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Nietzsche, Camus, Huxley, Kafka etc.

I certainly have an interest in reading.

tttigress · 26/05/2021 11:05

@bendmeoverbackwards

Surely part of the job is recommending books to library users? I would expect that in either a library or a bookshop.
What is they wanted a recommendation for a book on a particular computer language, or for a particular history era?

I think you are biased towards English literature.

looptheloopinahulahoop · 26/05/2021 11:10

@Lweji

I was someone who used to be taken to the library every Saturday by my father, and I developed a life long love of reading as a result.

I really wish it worked like that. It certainly didn't with DS. Sad

Yes. We have so many books, read nightly stories to our son when he was younger, but he still doesn't read very often at all, maybe a book a year. You can take the horse to water and all that...
looptheloopinahulahoop · 26/05/2021 11:12

my manager confessed that one of the reasons I was offered the post was because I didn’t use the “I love reading” line in the interview

Yes, when you are asked what's the most important skill for a library assistant, the answer is good communication skills.

looptheloopinahulahoop · 26/05/2021 11:17

A librarian qualification isn't an English Literature qualification. Why don't people get this

It's the same people saying "well you should know this because it's general knowledge" who have little understanding of the library and information profession. I have a magazine on my desk from the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. It has articles on subjects such as:

Doncaster's new library and museum hub

Libraries' role in combatting climate change

An oral archive in Ireland related to the Child Home scandal

The relaxation of lockdown and its impact on services

Digital collections

Onboarding employees remotely

A few of those are relevant to public libraries but not many. The role is much bigger than having an Eng lit A level.

eatsleepread · 26/05/2021 11:20

YABU. Her job is to help you locate the books, or order them in if necessary.
What she reads or doesn't read is nothing to do with you.

CaptainOatFlosser · 26/05/2021 11:30

@looptheloopinahulahoop some of those articles sound fascinating!

UrAWizHarry · 26/05/2021 11:35

@mermaidsariel

As You Like It and The Handmaid's Tale are very very well known to anyone with any interest at all in reading.
Are they bollocks. They are well known to people interested in quite a narrow genre of literature. I bet a lot the sneery types on this thread haven't heard of hugely popular books in the fantasy or sci-fi genres, or outside of the english language. Does that make them "think as shit" as someone else said?

AYLI, for starters, is a play. Some people don't like reading plays, especially 2nd rate plays. I love Shakespeare but it's not one I would recomment because it's a bit rubbish.

Alaimo · 26/05/2021 11:48

My mum used to work as a library assistant. She loves reading, probably reads at least a book/week, sometimes two. She also has zero interest in proper literature, classics, etc. Most of what she reads is chicklit, romance type stuff. And you know what? A lot of library patrons also like easy reads and loved that my mum could give them recommendations on what to read next.

Billandben444 · 26/05/2021 12:31

I worked in a public library for 30 years, starting as a scale 1 library assistant and ending as the library manager of the biggest branch in the Borough with 30,000 visitors a month.
The member of staff in the OP was not a qualified librarian and her reading choices are nothing to do with anyone else because she has all the info at her fingertips. I interviewed for staff to work in the libraries and they were called 'Customer Service Assistants' and had transferable skills so they could work across many council departments - Complaints, Telephony, etc. The interview process permitted no mention of books and only 'a general level of education' was asked for but most staff did have an interest in books but usually only specific genres. As to Shakespeare, I can't remember ever being asked for one of his plays in book form but the dvds were popular with parents around exam time. I don't like the sneering attitude of "I can't believe she didn't know..." and that reflects more on the OP than the member of staff.

Lexilooo · 26/05/2021 13:21

@mermaidsariel

Reading the comments above, I think libraries are now seen as information centres rather than places to give access to books as they used to be. That’s the problem. The focus is on ‘information management’ , not actually knowing anything about literature. So proficiency in IT etc is seen as more important. I think that’s a great shame. Says it all about the way things are going.
Libraries have always been about information management rather than literature. It is just that now there are more varied ways of storing and accessing information.

When my Mum got her library qualifications the vast majority of information would have been in books, journals, maps, and other paper based sources with some microfiche.

Now computers are the dominant way of storing and accessing information. A huge amount of information that would have been on paper is on computer.

The librarian is the expert in storing and accessing information, not the expert in the content (although a subject specialist librarian might have a degree in their subject).

Literature is a teeny tiny part of what libraries do and general public libraries are a small sample of the typical work of a librarian. A much greater proportion of librarians work in specialist libraries, some public and some private. University libraries, school and college libraries, local studies libraries, private company libraries, subscription libraries, libraries associated with government departments, professional associations etc etc

Many librarians will specialise in a subject, things like medicine or law are very specialised but include no literature.

Sometimes subject specialist librarians will end up working in a more general setting because the skills are transferrable.

Lexilooo · 26/05/2021 13:30

[quote ChoChoCrazyCat]@pamelat But surely even if you're volunteering, you would pick a particular field because you have at least some interest in it? You wouldn't just randomly decide to volunteer in a library if you had no interest and no knowledge of books?
Yes the tasks may be just admin, but you could do admin or customer service in a number of other fields...a library is quite specific. [/quote]
A library isn't just about books. An certainly not just about fiction books.

Perhaps the person has an interest in historic cenus records or historic maps or Hansard reports or newspapers or journals. Libraries are about much more than borrowing a book to read before bedtime.

Lastnightidreamtofmanderley · 26/05/2021 13:51

Did they actually say ‘I haven’t heard of that’ or did they say ‘who is the author’? The two don’t go hand in hand! (Not RTFT)

Montalbanosono · 26/05/2021 13:55

I'd be more worried about an English teacher who didn't know George Eliot (posted on here a while back).