That was at the head of a note that Nanette, our cataloger, left me on the CD-book version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  Nanette had come in early Saturday morning, even though she wasn’t working that day, in order to finish processing the CD-book (there hadn’t been a record in the system for her to attach to when she worked on Thursday).  Nanette was also the chosen person who handled and processed all of our Harry Potter copies.  As I might have mentioned before, and as any children’s librarian knows, I had to practically sign away my first-born child in order to receive the books before the release date.  And as any librarian knows, if you don’t receive the books before the release date, there’s no earthly way the books will be ready to be checked out on the release date, since they need to be covered, stamped, book pocketed, and entered into the catalog. 

Nanette was the perfect person to cover these books, though, since she confessed to having absolutely zero interest in the books.  No temptation to peek, since she really doesn’t care.  And thus, my totally subliminal fears that came out in my nightmares of Wednesday night were totally put to rest.  Thank you, Nanette.  🙂

But what of Harry Potter Day itself?  I knew I couldn’t compete with any of the big stores that were throwing huge bashes and selling books at 12:01 on Saturday, so I chose to run a very low-key event.  I found gobs and gobs of trivia quizzes, which I copied and stapled and arranged around the story room tables.  I sharpened dozens of pencils (to use on the quizzes), and I set up the special Harry Potter bookmarks that I “won” through a regional lottery.  And I set up raffle tickets and a raffle box for a copy of the new book.  No food, no decorations (not on our brand-new walls), no music, no goody bags.  The minimalist Harry Potter day.

A couple of dozen kids and their parents trickled in and out of the room from 11 AM to noon.  Some of the kids had dressed in costume as their favorite characters.  Some of the kids had a great time doing the trivia.  And some of the kids were clearly disappointed in my low-key party.  Oh well.  But when it came time to raffle off the copy of the book at noon, there was a rapt audience.  I shook that box up, down, and sideways, until the raffle tickets were well-mixed, then I announced to the gathered crowd that I sure hoped the winner was in the room, since it’s always a disappointment when I draw a winning ticket and the person isn’t in the room.

And then…drumroll…I drew the ticket.  “H— R— B—,” I announced, as I looked right at HRB’s older sister.  It took a couple of seconds for M—, the older sister, to process the news, then she started jumping up and down and screaming for her sister — and then she went running out into the children’s room, looping around the room looking for her sister, crying “Rosie! Rosie! Rosie! You won! You won! Rosie! Rosie! Rosie!  You WON!!!!”

It was the most joyful reaction I’ve seen in a long, long time, and it TOTALLY made my day.  Happy Harry Potter Day!!!!!