Why is Your Library Still Hosting Harry Potter Summer Reading Parties??????????
Your trans patrons deserve better
We need to talk about Harry Potter library programs, y’all. When a library spotlights Harry Potter, it’s a signal to trans youth and allies that the library is not for everyone. It really is that simple, to me.
I yap about libraries a lot so my algorithm throws everything library-related my way. So when I see Harry Potter Trivia programs and summer reading theme weeks and Quidditch games cross my feed from all over, I am baffled, like what?? Are we doing?? It is 2025. JKR has cemented her legacy as a hateful, mean-spirited person with her continued crusade against trans people. If a library is truly for everyone, then hosting programs that rely on a billionaire bigot’s dusty musty creation is antithetical to our whole deal. Those of us who give a damn about trans kids should speak up when out-of-touch admin are still riding the Hogshit Express like it’s 1997.
“But people can read what they want, Hayley!! That’s the whole deal!”
Yep!! And libraries should continue to carry Harry Potter books for the same reason we carry other books by other bad people (of which there are many). Shelf space does not equal endorsement, and that goes for LOTS of library books that make my skin crawl. But when a library hosts a program, or makes a summer reading book display, it is clearly the library endorsing or at the very least spotlighting an idea or book or author, and there is a level of responsibility that comes with that power. When a franchise’s author has so clearly directed harm towards trans youth, why on EARTH would you want to have THAT person be your spokesperson for youth programs that aim to be for everyone? If someone walked into the library wearing a I HATE TRANS YOUTH shirt, would you be like, You’re HIRED, here’s your youth library program leader badge! I HOPE NOT. (Maybe Oklahoma will start doing that the way they’re making out-of-state teachers moving to the state take a McCarthyism test.) But that’s exactly what we’re doing when we put JKR in the spotlight as some kind of Queen of Books For All Eternity. We collectively crowned her, but we can sure as hell UN-crown her. We are not somehow beholden to this random lady living in a house full of mold and malice.
That would be an excellent name for a romantasy series, btw, HOUSE OF MOLD AND MALICE, I’m calling dibs.
Anyway! Continuing to throw themed Harry Potter events is lazy. Library kids KNOW about Harry Potter. He’s like church in America, even if you aren’t a Christian, you can’t drive a block without a church or six, like you’re AWARE if you are BREATHING. Why not introduce them to books that will surprise them. Books they won’t absorb through cultural osmosis. Books that will challenge them. Something new. Or at least something not actively hateful. There are so!! Many!! Options!!
Harry Potter was good for libraries back in the day. But to quote Aragorn son of Arathorn and heir to the Throne of Gondor, “But it is not this day.”
The harm that JKR has done to the trans community is so gleefully cruel. Let the damn wizard go. The train has left the station. There is no going back.
WHAT I’M READING
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees by Patrick Horvath (affiliate link to Bookshop.org!) Oh my GOD. What a glimmering, ghoulish little book. Think Animal Crossing meets Dexter. Best graphic novel I’ve read all year, and I read it in one sitting. This better be winning some awards.
GAS STATION STYLE
The other day I woke up and wondered: What if I made a tee that felt like the Scholastic Book Fair meets a 90’s Gas Station? The result? BEHOLD:
20% of proceeds go directly to the Women’s Prison Book Project, which gives books to incarcerated women, trans, and nonbinary people across the U.S. We’ve raised over $3k so far through my best-selling PROTECT PUBLIC LIBRARIES (OR ELSE) tee! This first print batch will go out in time for Banned Books Week so you can wear it with pride to the Scholastic Book Fair or 90s gas station of your choice.
PAID SUBSCRIBER SHOUTOUTS
All new paid subscribers get a personal shoutout/link to their Substack here! I love everyone equally, but I love you most 🥰: Thanks to Unraveled, Holly G., and Paul. You are the wind beneath my wings. As always, if you’re a paid subscriber with a Substack or other thing you’d like linked, send me a DM!
Protect public libraries (or else),
hayley
BUT IT IS NOT THAT DAY
*cough* His Dark Materials Library Reading Parties *cough* Do it *cough* Do it for the children *cough* *cough* *cough*
A local ice cream shop did a HP event at the end of July. I believe they were giving a percentage of sales to a local org, but still...definitely rubbed me (and others, based on the comments I saw) the wrong way. Sure, money from this ice cream shop doesn't go to HER, but it's the principle.