Willow Glen Resident
News
Cambrian branch library wants muggles to visit
By Tiffany Carney
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Knight Bus, from the popular book series, is making its way across the nation. The bus tour is sponsored by Scholastic, the publisher of the Harry Potter series and will stop at 37 public libraries along the way.
The purple, triple-decker Knight Bus kicked off the tour June 1 in New York on the Today show. The bus is scheduled to stop at Cambrian branch library, stop number 34, and the Berryessa branch library, stop 35.
In the books, the Knight Bus is a special form of emergency transportation for the wizard community, but is invisible to the muggles, says Melissa Maglio, a full-time Cambrian library clerk and San Jose State University graduate student. Muggles are people in the books without magical powers.
Maglio, 27, plans to arrive at work early on the day of the event to get a glimpse of the bus.
"I am a major Harry Potter fan; I'm not ashamed to say it," she says with a laugh.
Harry Potter fans, age 7 to 17, can win a chance to board the Knight Bus by entering a drawing at any San Jose Public Library until 6 p.m. on June 23.
From each of the 18 San Jose Public Library locations, 25 winners will be chosen at random and notified on June 30. Each winner will receive a boarding pass good for either the Berryessa or Cambrian location to explore the bus.
On the day of the event, July 10, the Knight Bus will be stationed at the Berryessa branch from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the Cambrian branch from 3 to 6 p.m.
Once aboard the Knight Bus, fans can record a 20-second video documenting their thoughts on the series or the final book, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, says Hannah Slocum, Cambrian librarian.
Each fan will receive a password to view their video on the Scholastic website, which will also show video highlights from each stop as the bus travels from one location to the next.
According to Sharon Fung, Cambrian children's librarian, the parking lot around the Knight Bus will feature face painting, wand-making, paper plate snake-making, jelly bean tasting and a Harry Potter trivia game.
Everyone seems to have caught the Knight Bus fever, even Slocum. "It is an event you won't want to miss," she says.
The Cambrian branch is located at 1780 Hillsdale Ave., San Jose and can be reached at 408.808.3080. The Berryessa branch is located at 3355 Noble Ave., San Jose and can be reached at 408.808.3050. For more information, visit www.scholastic.com.
