KENT KRIEGSHAUSER/The Register-Mail

Karen Marple of the Galesburg Public Library dresses as Professor Dumbledore, a character in the Harry Potter series, Friday afternoon at the library. The seventh and final book was released at 12:01 this morning.

Potter fans spellbound as clock ticks down

Galesburg Library overrun with witches and wizards

Saturday, July 21, 2007

By JANE CARLSON

The Register-Mail

Instead of being the head of the children's department at the Galesburg Public Library, she was Albus Dumbledore, the purportedly deceased headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Regal in her purple cape, long white beard and purple hat dotted with gold stars, Marple went about her business Friday as young library patrons dressed as wizards-in-training wandered around the children's department.

She was one of a handful of Harry Potter devotees and library employees who enchanted others with costumes in celebration of the much-anticipated seventh - and last - book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

The book - which had a first printing of 12 million copies in the United States alone - was released at 12:01 a.m. today, to the delight of Marple and millions of other fans.

But Friday's festivities weren't limited to the children's department.

Jane Easterly, assistant director and head of adult services at the Galesburg Public Library, was dressed as Sibyl Trelawney, a professor of Divination at Hogwarts.

The leader of the library's Harry Potter book discussion series, Easterly has read the first six books numerous times and is an avid collector of Harry Potter dolls and other items.

"It's just so much fun," said Easterly, who wore a flowing black dress, round spectacles and a heap of necklaces as she assisted patrons Friday morning as Trelawney.

Rounding out her costume were a mug of tea leaves, a magic wand she created by varnishing a twig and a quill she fashioned out of a Bic pen and a grey feather from her pet parrot.

"To think there's this much excitement about a book, it's a perfect day for librarians," Easterly said. "It shows that there are still people that want to curl up with book and have that intimate relationship between them and the book."

Easterly said no book or series of books has come close to the popularity of the books in her lifetime.

Out of curiosity, she tracked how many people were checking out copies of the sixth book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," this week at the Galesburg Public Library.

Of the 28 hardcovers, audiobooks and large print versions the library owns, 26 were checked out Friday.

As much as that pleases the librarian in Easterly, the reader in her took the day off from work today to so she could find out what happens in book seven as quickly as possible.

But she, like many other fans of the series, want to find out by reading the book themselves, instead of by news reports, loudmouths or Web sites.

She stopped watching the news on Wednesday and was furious when the New York Times ran a review of the book on Thursday - because she wanted to preserve the chance to be thrilled and surprised by a good book, particularly one that has been so eagerly anticipated.

"This kind of thing only happens once in a lifetime, or maybe a couple of times in a lifetime," Easterly said.

Easterly plans to read the book three times by Thursday, when she'll lead a discussion on "Deathly Hallows" at 6:30 p.m. at library. A second discussion of the seventh book is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 2, but Easterly said she would consider additional discussions if there is interest.

"We'll talk about it as long as people want to talk about it," she said.

Coming Sunday: More Harry Potter mania, as fans finally get their hands on the book.