Fight Censorship month here at Bookmans has always been one of our favorite months because we love digging through our boxes of books for the classics we grew up with and seeing why they were banned or censored. We are thrilled with the chance to share the gift of information with our customers in any form and show them that books they read or are reading aren’t allowed in some locations. In honor of all that has been banned, we chose one of the most beloved banned books from this past decade to celebrate with our local kids.

In 2001, J.K. Rowling put out her first children's book, The Sorcerers Stone, and within those pages a new fandom was born based around everything Harry Potter. We chose to celebrate this banned book because on a daily basis, we help our customers invite the adventures of Harry Potter into their homes and see how quickly and easily people become enamored with the magical story set within the seven books. We’re very familiar with the wizarding world and wish daily we could live there ourselves, so what better way to fight censorship and celebrate Harry and his gang than to bring Hogwarts into Bookmans?

Bookmans in Phoenix threw a Hogwarts House Party and invited the entire community to add a little magic to their Saturday. We spent days transforming our community room into The Great Hall equipped with floating candles and flowing lush purple and black curtains. Everyone who attended was whisked away into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy and suddenly became students just like Harry, Ron and Hermione. The induction process included a moment with the Sorting Hat and it informed them of where them of which house they would be spending their time with during their Hogwarts schooling. The kids decorated their house badges and wore them around their necks so we could keep track of who was from which house, and yes that famous Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry still existed.

They had to attend their regularly scheduled classes like First Year Potions and Wand Making 101 where they got to choose from an array of ingredients to create their own personalized tasty concoction and use a variety of materials to create colorful and original wands that would surely defend them against the Dark Arts and help them with their other classes. It wasn’t all school work though, because everyone took a trip down Harry Potter memory lane and played the Save Aunt Marge Game where the ballooned Aunt Marge had to be levitated with light magic taps and whoever could keep her up the longest, received their very own copy of the movie! Needless to say, Bookmans kids are good at this game. Over 20 kids kept Auntie up with over 150 taps! We welcomed our favorite face painter to provide free face paintings of Harry Potter glasses, brooms and the infamous lightening bolts. Everyone who attended also went home with their own mini cauldron of those oh-so-suspicious Bertie Botts Every Flavored Jelly Beans.

We welcomed over 150 people of all ages to this gala, and even though the line to get into the party stayed 20 people long the entire time, our customers patiently waited their turn for their chance at a magical afternoon.

Although we only got to recreate a portion of the world that J.K. Rowling created, we felt honored to celebrate a banned book that has gotten so many people hooked for life on reading. These books are a new classic, and for generations to come we can say that we were a part of the historic event. We want to thank everyone who took the time to dress up and come out for the Hogwarts House Party, including our party volunteer, the President of the new Phoenix Lament Harry Potter Club. We hope that everyone shares the joys of Harry Potter with someone they love since anytime is a good time for Hogwarts party in your imagination all you have to do is pick up a Harry Potter book because, as Dumbledor would say, "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the lights."

Visit us on Flickr for more photos from this event.