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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

391 replies

Prevalence · 06/03/2025 10:43

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???

OP posts:
TheaBrandt1 · 08/03/2025 05:36

They are not “all on a par” though are they 🙄. Do you see no difference between a McDonald’s happy meal and a beautifully prepared dinner by a talented chef with fresh ingredients in a smart restaurant?

PrincessBing · 08/03/2025 09:13

How likely, as pp have said, is the "librarian" to be a qualified librarian as opposed to someone working in the school library? Library science is about dissemination of information, one does not necessarily need an abiding passion for literature to take this qualification and be a successful librarian.

What does trouble me, however, is that a school librarian doesn't read at all.
Schools need to promote reading and engaging with literacy as part of lifelong learning. I'd therefore expect a school librarian to model reading and some sort of interest in literature. Is this not also a disadvantage when it comes to library stock in this particular context- particularly as I imagine school libraries have great demands on their funds and keeping teens of all abilities engaged is hard. Reading some of the books and having a working knowledge of them is surely knowing your demographic.

Similarly whilst I wouldn't expect a librarian to have read Wolf Hall, it became so mainstream, I am surprised they haven't heard of it in general. Particularly as they may have a few- not necessarily many- students who have read it, particularly 16 and up. Not all teens exist on a diet of YA fiction. I didn't at that age. I read some, but mixed in amongst plenty of other novels. Especially as magic/ fantasy was a big thing when I was a teen and I disliked most of it. If it had been there to read at the time, I would more likely have read Wolf Hall.

There are also some really inaccessible Booker winners that unsurprisingly didn't land with the public at all. Some are more readable but still have just moments of prominence before fading into obscurity. This one hasn't gone away. I first read Wolf Hall as a student studying the Booker Prize. A few of the books were "famous" and had transcended to a degree, but some of them were unsurprisingly unpopular/ unknown amongst the wider public.

Printedword · 08/03/2025 09:33

marmaladeandpeanutbutter · 07/03/2025 07:45

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.

Gosh, the snobbery on here 😳

LouH1981 · 08/03/2025 09:36

Printedword · 08/03/2025 09:33

Gosh, the snobbery on here 😳

I’m so glad someone else said it.

NotSoFar · 08/03/2025 09:45

Printedword · 08/03/2025 09:33

Gosh, the snobbery on here 😳

What does being ill-paid in a non-professional job have to do with not reading widely, though?

Printedword · 08/03/2025 09:46

Ddakji · 06/03/2025 18:01

Oh dear. So teenagers shouldn’t extend, expand, challenge their reading? What a sad and sorry state of affairs.

Erm, reply has little or no connection to post

NotSoFar · 08/03/2025 09:48

Printedword · 08/03/2025 09:46

Erm, reply has little or no connection to post

Erm, what is the reference to ‘snobbery’ about?

LoremIpsumCici · 08/03/2025 09:49

Wolf Hall while a great book is written for adult women and is light historical fiction. It’s not a nonfiction history book, so having children read it to learn about Anne Boleyn would be irresponsible of a school librarian. So no, I wouldn’t expect them to have heard of it. It’s not relevant to their job and they may not like reading historical fiction. They may be into audio-books on astrophysics or true crime.

Printedword · 08/03/2025 09:54

NotSoFar · 08/03/2025 09:48

Erm, what is the reference to ‘snobbery’ about?

Eh, this gets further and further away from the post content by the school librarian

Printedword · 08/03/2025 09:57

NotSoFar · 08/03/2025 09:45

What does being ill-paid in a non-professional job have to do with not reading widely, though?

Well, exactly. You may choose to teach or work in public sector because of the work.

By the way, not all librarians and library workers are badly paid.

Many are not primarily custodians of physical books. Granted a schools library generally has physical materials

pollyhemlock · 08/03/2025 10:04

I feel the Wolf Hall thing is a bit of a red herring. I think it’s a masterpiece but obviously plenty don’t. That’s fine.The question is : should someone running a school library, however badly paid, have at least a passing interest in books so that they can encourage students’ reading? I would say the answer is unequivocally yes.

MasterBeth · 08/03/2025 10:22

LoremIpsumCici · 08/03/2025 09:49

Wolf Hall while a great book is written for adult women and is light historical fiction. It’s not a nonfiction history book, so having children read it to learn about Anne Boleyn would be irresponsible of a school librarian. So no, I wouldn’t expect them to have heard of it. It’s not relevant to their job and they may not like reading historical fiction. They may be into audio-books on astrophysics or true crime.

I don't know what job you do, but surely the parameters of what you should know about at work aren't limited by what you, personally, are into.

"She worked at a supermarket but didn't know where the ice cream aisle was as she was on a diet."

LoremIpsumCici · 08/03/2025 10:32

MasterBeth · 08/03/2025 10:22

I don't know what job you do, but surely the parameters of what you should know about at work aren't limited by what you, personally, are into.

"She worked at a supermarket but didn't know where the ice cream aisle was as she was on a diet."

lol,
there is a difference between being able to find a specific item for a customer and having intimate, personal knowledge of it.

Using your ice cream analogy, a supermarket worker doesn’t need to have tasted every flavour of ice cream in the shop and be familiar with the nutritional information and ingredients of each one.

The OP’s not unhappy that the librarian couldn’t find Wolf Hall, she’s unhappy the librarian didn’t recall the book and had not read it cover to cover.

ItisIbeserk · 08/03/2025 10:36

That’s not what the OP says. Actually reading Wolf Hall wasn’t mentioned and has been a red herring throughout this thread.

MasterBeth · 08/03/2025 10:37

LoremIpsumCici · 08/03/2025 10:32

lol,
there is a difference between being able to find a specific item for a customer and having intimate, personal knowledge of it.

Using your ice cream analogy, a supermarket worker doesn’t need to have tasted every flavour of ice cream in the shop and be familiar with the nutritional information and ingredients of each one.

The OP’s not unhappy that the librarian couldn’t find Wolf Hall, she’s unhappy the librarian didn’t recall the book and had not read it cover to cover.

Nope.

Read the post.

LoremIpsumCici · 08/03/2025 10:39

MasterBeth · 08/03/2025 10:37

Nope.

Read the post.

Perhaps you should read the post because OP never said that the librarian cant find where the historical fiction was in the library, like your shop worker who can’t find an ice cream aisle.

MasterBeth · 08/03/2025 10:59

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.

ItisIbeserk · 08/03/2025 11:00

LoremIpsumCici · 08/03/2025 10:39

Perhaps you should read the post because OP never said that the librarian cant find where the historical fiction was in the library, like your shop worker who can’t find an ice cream aisle.

Edited

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

NotAPersonalAttack · 08/03/2025 13:38

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

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.

BoredZelda · 08/03/2025 13:43

ItisIbeserk · 06/03/2025 11:06

I'd be quite surprised that a school librarian had never heard of Wolf Hall given how popular it's been with people who are interested in history, especially after being on TV. No need for them to have read it but it's a relatively recent Booker prize winner (as was its sequel) and it complements a lot of A level history syllabuses. It's not just a random recent novel so being aware of its existence feels a bit off.

Hilary Mantel was also an excellent writer and someone I'd have thought you would recommend to students. She was very famous by the time she died - her death was national news.

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.

bigvig · 08/03/2025 13:50

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

NotSoFar · 08/03/2025 14:00

BoredZelda · 08/03/2025 13:43

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.

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

NotAPersonalAttack · 08/03/2025 14:11

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!

Ddakji · 08/03/2025 14:33

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.

crisantemi · 08/03/2025 15:21

Regretsmorethanafew · 06/03/2025 13:31

And you never read a newspaper or watched TV over that 17 year period?

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.