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

[Prevalence]

was chatting to a friend - who said the school librarian where he works doesn't read books, has never heard of Wolf Hall and cannot recommend any reading books to pupils as a result ... AIBU to think this is nonsense???

I would much rather the ‘librarian’ (as in member of staff who works in the library) in my kids school knew the books that kids actually want to read like Heartstopper and make appropriate recommendations and suggestions based on that, rather than know nothing about Heartstopper but be able to speak knowledgeably about Wolf Hall and Booker prize winners.

I’m also of the opinion that reading something is better than reading nothing. I don’t care if it’s David Walliams or Ulysis, Hilary Mantell or Jeff Kinney. The best way to stop kids reading is to make them read something they’ve zero interest in.

The way teaching is at the moment, I imagine parents are delighted that I have an English degree and a teaching qualification and get excellent GCSE results. I doubt many would be bothered that I’ve not heard of one particular book. I read plenty.

Wolf Hall wasn't 'just one book'. It was a phenomenon in the literary world. Hilary Mantel was interviewed everywhere. Not having heard of Wolf Hall is like being an English teacher who's never heard of George or TS Eliot.

I'm so bloody glad to have grown up in the days when teachers were permitted to talk about the things they were passionate about, and to have had teachers who loved literature and passed it on to me.

Reading anything is better than nothing is fine at the start of a reluctant readers journey. But it’s a very low bar once you’re past that.
Making recommendations within YA isn’t that hard, Amazon’s algorithm can do that. Taking them out of YA and introducing them to something new - that’s what I’d like to see librarians do. Stepping it up a level.

I read recently that Jeff Kinney is the most borrowed author in secondary schools. Jeff Kinney is on a level a Year 4 or 5 can enjoy, and there’s zero progression. I don’t think there’s anything to celebrate in secondary school kids reading his books.

You're an English teacher - I'd hope you read a lot!

I'd also hope you had at least some kind of interest in literary fiction.

I do, so you’d be happy.

So how have you not heard of - not read, but heard of - Wolf Hall, one of the acknowledged masterpieces of this century?

I don’t know how to answer what I don’t know. No one at school recommended it to me when it came out. I don’t know where the interviews were that were mentioned above, but I wasn’t watching author interviews at that age. The first Booker that I think I can remember reading was The Sellout, so I must have got an interest around that age. I’ve really never heard anyone recommending it, and even doing a quick google this morning, it’s not making me think it’s as big as being made out on here (the reviews seem quite mixed?) and no one during my adult life has recommended it. I’ve maybe picked it up at some point, and put it back down as it doesn’t interest me. I have heard of Bring Up the Bodies now that I’m googling, I think I’ll have been interested in that title but then again lost interest when reading the blurb.

Anyways, now I can say I’ve heard of it, so I’m sure I can quell those parental complaints that I may have otherwise been inundated with.

Being told which books we should know of is rather high-handed and arrogant.
Could you list all of Shakespear's works?
As another pp noted, repeating what a friend of a friend says and then asserting that someone SHOULD have heard of a book is nonsense.

So you’re saying don’t give kids exposure to things other than books, allow them no life experiences? What could possibly go wrong there 🙄

I can name a lot of them, but that's not the point.

I'd expect most people to able to at least recognise the name Shakespeare and perhaps know one or two of the more famous one like Romeo and Juliet even if they didn't know what it was about. More so if theyre a librarian!

Many library staff these days are assistants and paid minimum wage. The de-professionalisation of many jobs probably came to library work quite early. At least it isn't a life or death occupation.

Especially since it’s been a major TV series, and the author was very well known, yes, I’d be very surprised if any librarian hadn’t even heard of Wolf Hall.

@Bogginsthe3rd - from Wikipedia
^*
Wolf Hall* is a British television series adaptation of two of Hilary Mantel's novels, Wolf Halll[1] and Bring Up the Bodiess^,[2] a fictionalised biography documenting the life of Thomas Cromwell.

This thread is just more confirmation of how bad, how narrow, modern education is. “I didn’t hear about it at school” therefore I can’t be expected to know about it, despite being an English teacher with an English degree (presumably hasn’t been in a branch of Waterstones for the last 20 years either).

This person is probably not a librarian ( as has been said to you about 1000 times already) Librarians hardly exist anymore in school libraries in particular. It is a highly skilled postgraduate level profession. In any case, you don't actually know whether what you were told is true. You don't know this person. You don't know if your friend has an axe to grind, whether this person applied for a job in a school and was told to sit in the library as part of her job, or even if they jokingly said ' I hate books!' Or even if they said it to piss your friend off because they were being sanctimonious and patronising to another member of staff.

Is the person in question a librarian and paid a librarian salary or are they hired to run the school library and operate a computer and tidy away books?

Not sure if the point has been made before but worth noting that prisons are required by law to have libraries and Librarians and schools are not. Which I personally think is a travesty. Libraries should absolutely still be in prisons btw too.

I am a Librarian in another field and know a few school Librarians or former school Librarians. The former school Librarians would all have heard of Wolf Hall and have a passion for introducing new books to their students. All are not school librarians anymore because there is little support from SLT, budget cuts and appalling pay. Those that are still working as school Librarians are in private schools, they would also have heard of Wolf Hall.

To be fair, it’s not like school libraries are the only libraries children have access to, unlike in prisons, so I don’t think that’s a good comparison.

However, plenty of councils have had to close libraries or reduce opening times so it’ll be a postcode lottery.

Ah, yes, the two categories of literature: Wolf Hall and 'dreadful YF books' (did you mean YA books, incidentally?). No other books exist outside of these two categories!

But well done you for being such a clever 16 year old!

Surely you realise that @Bogginsthe3rd was winding you up?

I never realised Hilary Mantel had so many hardcore fans! Keep fighting the good fight, @MasterBeth and @Pluvia. I'm off to reread Agatha Christie.

A massive postcode lottery, again public libraries are supposed to be statutory but it is a real mix now. A lot of the rest of Europe views the UK as having essentially destroyed its public library services even if some buildings are open. There was a huge loss of staff during austerity that the public didn’t see.

Also with the cuts to opening hours, and branch closures it really isn’t a comprehensive service. Especially in deprived areas where they’re most needed, or in rural areas.

Yes indeed. I am very fortunate that my London borough values libraries highly and has refurbished and opened new libraries.

You're off to reread who? 😉