The Walker Memorial Library has packed away its rare signed copy of the latest Harry Potter book, several months after fans lined up at local book stores to buy it.
In August, the Walker Memorial Library was fortunate to receive a very special copy of the global bestseller “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince,” one signed by author J.K. Rowling herself.
For a time after the book arrived, it was displayed in a case in the Children’s Room, but it wasn’t the attraction Children’s Librarian Pat Larrabee expected it to be. “A few people came in to see it,” said Larrabee. “It didn’t get the huge response I thought it would.”
The book, which is not part of the library’s circulating collection, is no longer on display; it is now in storage in the library’s Local History Room, Larrabee said.
The Potter book is not the only signed book in the library’s collection, but it is certainly the most notable, Larrabee said. “That book would be the only one that has some real value,” she said.
The signed Potter book is a rarity. Since the series has exploded in popularity, Rowling has stopped signing books because there is no way she could meet up with the demand. On her official Web site, Rowling writes that she no longer signs books, except for charities and in special circumstances, like the Scholastic contest.
Larrabee said there are no immediate plans to display the book again, though she said the library would probably use the book as part of its celebration of Harry Potter’s birthday this summer.
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