NEWS | July 14, 2005

Libraries
UTA Libraries host ‘Harry Potter’ events
The celebration will feature a speaker, games in honor of the sixth Harry Potter book.

By Bunmi Ishola
Contributor to The Shorthorn

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has bewitched many Americans, and as the release of the sixth installation approaches, the university will share in the spell of excitement.

In honor of the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, UTA Libraries will host a series of events from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today to satisfy the enthusiasm of Harry Potter fans.

“It’s obviously a very popular book, and there are a lot of events all over the world going on,”

information literacy librarian Evelyn Barker said.

Although the library has done similar events before, Barker said this is the first time it has ever put on such an event for a fictional work.

“[The events] will be a fun way to participate in all the hoopla,” she said.

The main event will be a lecture with Hal Thorsrud from New Mexico State University.

“We were looking for someone who had written previously and published previously on Harry Potter,” said Gretchen Trkay, instruction and literacy librarian.

Dr. Thorsrud is the author of an essay on the theme of friendship in Harry Potter, which was published in Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts.

Building off his essay, he will speak about the theme of hatred in Harry Potter and whether, in some cases, it can be justified.

Trkay said the library decided to do this to get more of a pedagogic look at something so trendy in popular culture.

“It sort of brings an academic look at something that’s seen as a children’s book,” she said.

The UTA Libraries will also use Harry Potter to introduce various uses of its graphics information system which maps data so that users can see where certain events or trends are concentrated. Participants in this event will focus on the question: If Hogwarts came to America, where would the best place for it to be?

“It’s a fun way to introduce people to GIS, if on a more serious note they need to do research,” Barker said.

The library plans to stay on the “American Hogwarts” theme with a Photoshop workshop, which will allow participants to design a crest for four mythical “houses” the library created.

“There’s Glinda House, Samantha Stevens, Houdini and David Blaine,” Barker said.

There will also be an online Sorting Hat game to place people in the new Hogwarts houses.

Other events include a costume contest and an exhibit of books from the Arlington Public libraries. Barker said Harry Potter readers would enjoy the other books on display.

The UTA Bookstore will be preselling the book and other related merchandise. It will also have copies of Harry Potter and Philosophy, which Thorsrud will be available to sign.

The graphics information system and Photoshop events are limited to UTA students, staff and faculty due to licensing limitations, but all other events are open to the public.

Trkay said it’s simply a chance to do something different at the library.

“It’s a fun opportunity for the libraries to be involved in something students and faculty enjoy in their everyday life and not just academics,” she said.

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