As a teacher librarian I regularly come across the phrases “I hate reading” and “I’m not a reader” in my day-to-day work. I am never angered by these comments, nor am I surprised, but rather I like the challenge that this possesses. For many students it’s often about simply finding the right book, but more importantly, it has to come at the right time. There are some students that leave our reading promotion program at the end of year 9 that still haven’t managed to find that book and that’s ok, but what makes me so happy is when those students find that book on their own later in their schooling years and then rush to tell me. This recently happened with a student in year 11 at my current place of work and honestly, I was so happy that there were happy tears…

So, what was the book you ask? Well, it was Harry Potter! This student in year 11 has TikTok (like so many of our young people) and if you’re not aware, there has been a rather large resurgence in interest in Harry Potter thanks to this platform. Last year, all of our copies of Harry Potter were loaned out at once for a couple of months – this hasn’t happened in my time and as a proud Potterhead it made me so happy. Anyway, this student had discovered a love for all things Weasley twins thanks to various memes and TikToks. She started watching the movies and we’d talk about the twins while she was in one of my year 10 classes. I never once suggested that she read the books and was happy to simply continue discussing the movies with her. After the Christmas holidays, this student came into the school library, tracked me down and said something along the lines of…

“Ms, guess what?”

“What?”

“I read a whole chapter book over the holidays?”

“You did! Which one?”

Pause….

“Harry Potter!”

Queue the happy tears…

She then went on to tell me that she enjoyed it so much that she’s reading the second. She’s loving the depth of world building, the extra character information, and all the side stories that you miss out on in the movies. At this point I’m beaming and crying and telling her how proud I am of her to the point where she’s also beaming with pride. This has honestly been the best news I’ve received at work in a long time and I’m still so proud of this student.

This story is proof of just how magical the world of Harry Potter is. The characters are so relatable, the struggles so authentic, the adventure is gripping, and the story is timeless. There’s a fan favourite saying that is also one of my favourites too:

Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home