Potter Oath of Secrecy Signed In ... Well, Ink

Apr 05, 01:29 PM

Current Headlines: By Joseph M. Dougherty Deseret Morning News

FARMINGTON -- It's no secret that Scholastic, the publisher of the widely popular Harry Potter series, likes to keep a secret.

On Saturday, July 21, at 12:01 a.m., fans of the book will discover what lies at the end of the boy wizard's seventh year at Hogwarts. That's when the final installment of the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," goes on sale, and booksellers and libraries around the state are likely to hold midnight release parties, replete with patrons dressed up like Harry Potter and his classmates.

With the advent and anticipation of the last Harry Potter book, Scholastic has imposed some strict rules for libraries, as well.

Among those rules is an order to limit the number of staff members who process the books and numerous books on tape and CD that library branches have ordered. The publisher also is requiring libraries to provide a list and contact information for each branch manager.

The Davis County library system, which has seven branches, has already ordered 150 books and may order up to 250 copies, said Davis County Library director Pete Giacoma. There are already 500 holds for copies of the book through the library system.

Salt Lake County's library system has ordered 652 books for its 18 libraries. Nearly 1,200 requests have already been placed.

In Utah County the Provo Library has ordered 60 copies, and the Orem Library has requested 20. The Washington County library system has ordered 44.

"Scholastic intends to monitor the 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' laydown very closely and appreciates your complete cooperation," states a contract from the publisher that Giacoma received March 28.

Other libraries that have ordered the book received similar contracts.

On Tuesday, Giacoma half jokingly told the Davis County Board of Commissioners that the contract is "full of very ominous language." Failure to keep "Deathly Hallows" under wraps until July 21 could get libraries blacklisted from future embargoed titles, the contract states. But that's not all.

"We acknowledge and agree that any such violation will cause irreparable harm to Scholastic and the author, J.K. Rowling, and that monetary damages will be inadequate to compensate for violations," the contract states.

If monetary damages would be inadequate, the commissioners wondered what would be adequate.

"I think we better ratify," said Commissioner Bret Millburn. "I think we'd get a spell cast on us."

Giacoma told commissioners, "We will do everything to see that we comply."

Later, Giacoma told the Deseret Morning News that he takes the contract seriously, although the contract may also be part of the book's marketing tactics, which he called "brilliant."

"It adds to the mystique," he said.

Andrew Shaw, assistant manager of community affairs for the Salt Lake City Library, said the publisher's strategy is working.

"This book has been an absolute phenomenon," Shaw said.

Scholastic is printing 12 million copies of "Deathly Hallows" for the United States, said Scholastic spokeswoman Kyle Good.

According to Scholastic's Web site, "Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince," the sixth installment in the series, sold 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours of its July 2005 release. About 15.5 million copies of "Half-Blood Prince" are now in print, Good said.

More than 120 million books in the Harry Potter series are in print in the United States, the publisher's Web site states.

In the 30-plus years he's has been in the library business, Giacoma said he can't recall another book or set of books so sought- after as the Harry Potter books have been.

Once the Davis library system receives the latest books, they will be locked away until early July 21, he said. Then, the library's driver will make an early run to deliver the books to each of the county's seven branches in time for the books to be checked into the system.

It's a similar story for the Salt Lake City libraries, Shaw said. When the books arrive, one book may be removed for cataloguing. It will then be returned to the box, which will be sealed.

"All processing is done by one person," he said.

E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com

(c) 2007 Deseret News (Salt Lake City). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.