The Princeton University campus will become a wizarding world for Cotsen Library’s Princyclopedia.
By: Anthony Stoeckert
Looking to improve your Quidditch game? Need a new wand? Is there a spell that you just can’t master? Princyclopedia promises to satisfy all your wizard needs and be sure to set aside some time to relax with a butterbeer.
Princeton University’s Dillon Gym will be transfigured into the world of Harry Potter March 31, as the Cotsen Children’s Library devotes its first Princyclopedia convention to everyone’s favorite wizard. There will be simulations of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the shops of Diagon Alley. The celebration is intended to encourage children’s love of reading and for the university and the community at large to help children learn, create crafts and, most of all, have fun.
"We pick a theme and the convention is designed around it," says Dana Sheridan, education and outreach coordinator with Cotsen Children’s Library. "All the convention tables either have a demo or hands-on project to work on that they can take home. The idea that you go in and freely circulate is part of that convention style of going around and seeing things."
Choosing Harry Potter for the first Princyclopedia was a natural because this is a big, though bittersweet, year for fans as the series’ last book, Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows, is scheduled to be released this summer.
"Since that’s the last book, I thought the Harry Potter event should be first," Ms. Sheridan says. "When the book series runs out, the world is going to turn to a new series. In some ways it’s the last hurrah for Harry Potter, even though there’ll still be movies."
The theme is also sure to draw lots of participants because of the unprecedented success of J.K. Rowling’s books. The announcement of Deathly Hallows’ release date was front-page news and follow-up stories have covered the novel’s length and the environmentally friendly paper that will be used to print the books. Business sections in newspapers across the country have reported on how the novel will impact the bookstore industry this year, and what Scholastic (Ms. Rowling’s U.S. publisher) will do to survive in a post-Potter world.
Upon arriving at Princyclopedia, visitors will be given a convention bag and a map of the layout. The map, of course, will resemble the Marauder’s Map, which has helped Harry get in and out of trouble several times over the course of the series. With the map as their guide, children can head to whichever activity table (all sponsored by local businesses, organizations and Princeton students) they want at their own pace.
Ms. Sheridan expects the Honeydukes table (sponsored by Whole Foods) to be a popular destination. The sweet shop in Diagon Alley is where Hogwarts students buy their favorite sweets like chocolate frogs, cockroach clusters, fizzing whizzbees and fudge. Whole Foods is designing its own versions of treats found in the shop specifically for Princyclopedia, including butterbeer the drink of choice for younger wizards which any true Harry Potter fan has been longing to taste.
The Arts Council of Princeton will sponsor Ollivander’s Wand Shop, an important store in the Potter universe that appeared early on in the very first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. It was there that the first hints of a connection between Harry and the evil Lord Voldermort were first hinted at because the wand that best-fit Harry was similar to the one used by Voldermort in his youth. The table will feature materials where kids can make their own wand that they can bring home.
Other tables include the Weasleys’ Wizards Wheezes joke shop, sponsored by Jazams toy store. In the series, the store is opened by Fred and George Weasley (with money given to them by Harry) after they flee Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The version at Princyclopedia will feature jokes, riddles and playful activities.
Even some of the magic featured in the books will be on display, kind of. Pawtisserie pet store will be the place to learn about transfiguration (a class taught at Hogwarts). Ms. Sheridan says kids will become dogs, cats and bugs at the table, but will say no more. "I can’t give any more away than that," she says.
There will also be tables devoted to charms and potions, and even a Defense Against the Dark Arts class put on by Princeton students.
"But that is as close as we get to the dark side of Harry Potter and even that table is (about) the creatures that are mentioned in the book, and maybe a couple of the sillier curses," Ms. Sheridan says. Meaning kids won’t be learning about evil spells or encountering Lord Voldermort. The event is G-rated. It’s also intended to educate children. Kids can learn a bit about science at the potions table and about the creatures (including owls, snakes and insects) that are part of the event’s animal shows.
Planning for the first Princyclopedia started in the summer and went into full-force mode shortly after the holidays. Ms. Sheridan says she approached it by thinking about what made Harry Potter so special. Why are people around the world so captivated by these books and why, in this digital age, are kids devouring the tomes, the longest of which, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is 870 pages long?
"What I came up with was that in Harry Potter, the wizard world exists with the human world, the Muggle world, and you can almost believe that you can cross over," she says. "You can almost believe that this world actually exists, and I think that’s what really took off.
"So I thought, ‘How great would it be to bring this book to life.’ You can go to a movie to see it, you could even go to the movie set if you were privy to that, but how great would it be to actually go out into an environment that’s all Harry Potter. And that really focuses on the classes and the shops and things like that, to bring them to life."
Princyclopedia will take place at Dillon Gym, Princeton University Campus, Princeton, March 31, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Free parking is available at Lot 7. Admission and all activities are free. For information, call (609) 258-2697. On the Web: ccl.princeton.edu

