The Dartmouth Bookstore may enjoy the distinction of being steeped in tradition as America's oldest family-owned enterprise of the sort, but it hasn't managed to escape the newfound mania surrounding the release of J.K. Rowling's latest addition to her wildly popular Harry Potter children's series.
Like numerous bookstores around the country, the Dartmouth Bookstore hosted a party late Friday night in anticipation of the official release of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" at the stroke of midnight on Saturday.
Several Dartmouth students found themselves unexpectedly caught up in the mayhem.
"I knew a lot of places were having parties and things like that and that we'd be up here for sophomore summer, so I asked if they were doing anything and said I could bring some Dartmouth kids to help out," said Ariel Dowling '05, who was browsing in the bookstore towards the end of Spring term when she saw signs advertising the release of the book.
For Dowling, what resulted was six hours of costume making with Adrienne Diebold '05 on Friday afternoon, and then several intense hours at the party itself, which lasted from about 10:30 p.m. until 12:30 a.m.
During the event, Dowling and Diebold sported black hats, wands, black capes and badges representing the Griffindor School from the books as they led groups of both children and adults in various activities while they waited for midnight to strike and the official sale to begin.
To avoid the frustratingly long lines that had formed from the registers and stretched down the block during the release party for the last Harry Potter book, Rowling's fourth, the bookstore had participants take tickets at the door which they could use to reclaim their books after midnight. According to Dowling, by 11 p.m. the bookstore had sold out of its entire stock of 400 books, many of which had been pre-sold. A new shipment comes out early this week.
Bookstores around the country experienced a similar phenomenon, with books flying off the shelves. Scholastic, the U.S. publisher of the series, estimated 5 million copies were sold within the first 24 hours of the book's release. Barnes and Noble Booksellers sold 1 million copies within the first two days. The book has also been the top seller at Amazon.com since its release, selling 1 million copies on Saturday alone and setting a record for the largest-selling single item in the history of e-commerce.
"It's crazy 'cause the books are $30 each and 890 pages -- they're huge," Dowling said.
While party participants waited eagerly to get their hands on the long tome, Diebold ran a round of Harry Potter trivia games while Dowling oversaw a game of Quidditch Tube Toss, the aerial Harry Potter form of soccer. The bookstore's version had participants try to score goals in hula hoops suspended in the air, Dowling explained.
Other activities included wand making and face painting of lightning bolts like the scar Potter wears on his forehead.
About 300 to 400 people attended the event, with around half of them children, Diebold and Dowling reported that bookstore employees said. In addition to parents with children, the group included many teenagers and a number of Dartmouth Harry Potter enthusiasts.
"None of the Dartmouth kids came dressed up," Dowling lamented, "But almost all the kids were. And some of the parents too," she added.
"The kids were really cute," Diebold said. "There were some who I swear had memorized all four books -- they knew every single detail."
"They did not get tired at all," Dowling added. "They were definitely wide awake waiting for that book the whole time until midnight."
A number of Dartmouth students said they have already bought the book and that they can't wait to start reading it.
"I just bought the book and I can't wait to read it," Kristy Charbonneau '05 said." The book was supposed to come out a year ago and I've been excited for it to come out ever since."
