by Anne Jamieson

As a Harry Potter fan, it goes without saying that I love books. But more importantly, I love what books represent: freedom. In every book you read, there is an adventure. There is a chance to get away from the humdrum everyday life you live and see the world through a different set of eyes. That’s why I have an entire room of books in my house and why I snap up books compulsively at every sale my local library has.

However, there are some people who are not able to experience the joy that I and so many other Harry Potter fans find in books. Literacy, in the United States and abroad, is one of the most important causes a Harry Potter activist can be involved in. In the United States alone, one in four children grow up not knowing how to read[1].

Overseas, especially in Africa, the plight is worse. In Rwanda, only sixty percent of the population is literate[2] and it is not expected to get any better. Without the help of other people, Rwanda might never gain the literacy rates enjoyed by European nations and our own. Their children might never know the bliss that can be found in a well-worn copy of a much-loved book, read over and over. They might never even know how to read, much less own a book of their own!

That’s where the Harry Potter Alliance steps in.

For those that do not know, the Harry Potter Alliance, or HPA, is a group of activists “dedicated to bringing together Harry Potter fans from everywhere to spread love and fight the Dark Arts in the real world”[3]. And every one of us can help them in their quest to spread literacy internationally through the Accio Books! project.

Through the month of March, all Harry Potter fans are encouraged to donate either used or new books to local organizations or to a special youth village in Rwanda. Imagine: that book sitting dusty on the highest shelf of your bookcase that you haven’t even laid eyes on, much less read, in years could bring the sparkle of excitement to another person’s eye. The love of reading all of us as Harry Potter fans are aware of and cultivate can be brought to the world just by picking up that book and sending it on to new territory.

HPA is making it worth your while, of course, in more ways than one. Not only do you have the opportunity to bring a smile to the face of an orphaned, destitute child, but you can also be a part of the first HPA house cup! Once you sign up on the official HPA website, which can be found at http://www.thehpalliance.org, every book you donate earns points for the house of your choice! Give with the Gryffindors, help with the Hufflepuffs, rescue with the Ravenclaws, or share with the Slytherins.

Every book you donate to a local organization will be worth five points. Every book you send to the Harry Potter Alliance for donating to the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda will be worth ten points, and every Harry Potter book you send to the same will be worth fifteen4.

The address that you send to give books to the Harry Potter Alliance and the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village is:

Jodie Greenhouse
29 Henry’s Mill Lane
Sudbury, MA 01776

Books are some of the greatest joys in life, and it is important to bring that sense of wonderment to the peoples of other lands. Join in the first annual Harry Potter Alliance book drive. Light the world on fire with the flame of knowledge!



Works Cited

1. “Literacy Statistics.” Begin to Read.com. 2008. Begintoread.com. 2 Mar 2009 .
2. “Rwanda.” Africa Information Center. 2008. 2 Mar 2009 .
3. “About Us.” Harry Potter Alliance Official Website. 2009. The Harry Potter Alliance. 2 Mar 2009 .
4. Slack, Andrew. “Third Live DA MEETING Sunday 1 pm EST.” Weblog post. The Harry Potter Alliance Official Website. 1 Mar 2009. thehpalliance.org. 2 Mar 2009 .