June 25, 2015

Harry Potter celebrated with ‘Muggles & Magic’ library exhibit

A new, staff-created exhibit brings a little bit of Hogwarts to Suzzallo and Allen libraries, with books, games, action figures and even scholarly articles about that famous, lightning-browed “boy who lived.”

The exhibit is called “Muggles & Magic: Harry Potter @ the Libraries.” The main attraction sits just outside the Suzzallo Reading Room, which is fitting since the room’s Gothic splendor now has tour hosts calling it the “Harry Potter Room.” More Potteralia is on display on the Allen Library’s north lobby, including photos and a T-shirt from the Husky Quidditch Team. There are also student-created displays on Suzzallo’s ground floor.

It was co-curated by Jessica Albano, communication studies librarian; Anya Bartelmann, physics, astronomy and mathematics librarian; and history reference and research librarian Theresa Mudrock.

“We’re always looking for an excuse to do something fun,” Albano said, adding that the scores of items in the exhibit came from fellow staffers “and scavenger hunts at Goodwill.”

To one side of the Suzzallo exhibit is a board that invites visitors to write of their own first encounter with the stories of J.K. Rowling’s young wizard.

“Wishing to be Hermione,” one said simply, while another said, “My mom reading me and my siblings the book and using new voices for each character.” Another recalled: “My dad read me the first book to me at age 7. He was too slow so I learned to read faster and read them all” — which must be music to a librarian’s ears.

The exhibit seems popular with the many out-of-towners and other visitors filing by and snapping photos before entering the quiet reading room with its cathedral ceiling. Bookmarks were printed for the occasion, and 1,800 have been picked up since the exhibit opened June 8.

“Muggles & Magic: Harry Potter @ the Libraries” will be on view through Oct. 1, so it will be there in early fall to greet incoming freshmen, many of whom were born in 1997, the year the first book, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” was published in the United Kingdom.

The Potter theme also will be part of Dawg Daze, with special events for students including a trivia contest, a geocache and “Muggleshots,” which are Potter-themed mug shots. The curators have started a blog with information about activities related to the exhibit.

“It’s been a lot of fun to work on Harry,” said Mudrock.

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To learn more, contact Albano at jalbano@uw.edu or 206-685-1637; of A.C. Petersen, UW Libraries communications officer, at 206-543-9389 or acpete@uw.edu.