As avid Harry Potter fans eagerly await the next movie in the series - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," which comes out Friday, - Blackshear Place librarians decided to join in the celebration.
On Saturday, library clerks Emily Braselton and Lara Wrightson created a Harry Potter world filled with trivia, games and movies.
"With the movie coming out, we decided it would be fun to help people enjoy the literary aspect of it," said Braselton, who sported a Harry Potter shirt.
At the entrance, they placed a mailbox filled with letters to Harry imitating ones found in the first book of the series, including his acceptance to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and what items he should buy for classes. Next to the mailbox, several glass bottles held potions from the books, such as veritaserum, draught of living death and polyjuice potion.
"We just came in. We didn't know it was Harry Potter day," said Rebecca Pass, who walked around with her son Christopher, 9, who has seen all of the Harry Potter movies. "You can tell they put a lot of work into it, and this is something fun we can do together."
They stopped at stations decorated like the train platform 9 3/4, Diagon Alley and the Forbidden Forest. At each stop, they tried answering the easy and difficult trivia questions, laughing at each incorrect answer.
"How can we remember all these details?" Pass said as
Christopher giggled. "You need to read up on your Harry Potter."
At the end of the trivia journey, students entered their names in the Goblet of Fire to win a hardback copy of the final book in the series. At another table, children picked up crossword puzzles and coloring pages.
"I really liked making the origami owl," Natalia Castillo, 11, said as she colored a page. "I also liked looking at the book covers from around the world and seeing where Harry has been."
Younger children could search for cutouts of Hedwig, Harry's owl, in the easy reading section and win prizes.
"I went looking all around the library, under the stuffed animals and around the books, and I found an owl in the corner," said Sophia Le, 8, as she carried around a bookmark, piece of chocolate and a lollipop. "I like wizards and fantasy, and I like Harry Potter."
In the library's meeting room, a few kids kicked back and watched one of the Harry Potter movies. As children tried the different activities, Braselton and Wrightson couldn't help but smile.
"We started planning this a month ago and kept coming up with decorations at home or at the dollar store," Wrightson said, boasting a Bellatrix Lestrange shirt. "We did this for the fans who are nerds like Emily and me. It's been a lot of fun to plan and decorate."