Harry Potter lovers of all ages are encouraged to show their love for the series during the fifth annual Harry Potter Book Night on Feb. 6 at the Chestermere Public Library.
From 6 p.m. until 8 p.m., Chestermere residents can dress up as their favourite Harry Potter character, create crafts, win a draw prize, and participate in a photo opportunity with a surprise prop.
“We had over 100 people last year,” said the Chestermere Public Library Acting Director Cathy Burness.
“It’s a lot of fun. People who love Harry Potter love Harry Potter, and they can’t get enough of it,” she said.
As well as providing a fun family event, Burness is hopeful that the annual Harry Potter Book Night will encourage residents to read the Harry Potter series.
During the Harry Potter Book Night, the Chestermere Public Library is transformed into the Harry Potter world with birdcages, floating candles, and potions.
“We decorate the whole library, we’ve had Quidditch posts in the past, the giant spider and spider webs, we’ve had birdcages with crows and owls in them, just a variety of things that make people feel like their immersed in the world of Harry Potter,” Burness said.
“The décor is becoming increasingly more elaborate, and people very much love to see the magic potions, the birdcages, the suitcases, and the floating candles,” she said.
Along with Harry Potter décor, characters including McGonagall, Trelawney, and Luna Lovegood can also be found wandering the library.
The Harry Potter Book Night has quickly become a community favourite library event.
“It’s one of our favourite events. When we do customer satisfaction surveys, we get accolades for Belle’s Tea, the musical, the reading program, and Harry Potter Book Night,” Burness added. “Those are the big programs that people just absolutely love.”
Burness and the Chestermere Public library team do welcome any suggestions to improve the Harry Potter Book Night.
“If there is anyone with ideas on how to improve Harry Potter Book Night, we’re happy to work with them to make it better,” Burness said.
She added, “We aim to make it better every year. We always welcome comments.”
Throughout the years, the Chestermere Public Library has built up the inventory of decorations to such an extent that the Harry Potter Book Night is offered to the community free of charge.
“We don’t have to charge anything, and we really like to be able to provide that for free because there are definitely a lot of kids involved,” Burness said.
For additional information regarding Harry Potter Book Night, please visit the Chestermere Public Library website at https://www.chestermerepubliclibrary.com/.
I had no idea this was happening!
I’ve taught in Chestermere the last 2 years and introduced 2 grade 5 classes to the books and transform my classroom into Hogwarts. I will definitely be promoting this event to my students when I am back in the classroom next year! 🙂