A display of Harry Potter books at the Alamogordo (N. Mex.) Public Library was a marked contrast to a December 30 book burning of works written by J. K. Rowling and others that took place outside the city’s Christ Community Church. Held on church property after a half-hour prayer service, the event drew several hundred congregants and as many as 800 counterprotesters.
After Pastor Jack Brock sermonized about fire as a cleansing instrument, some worshippers placed into the bonfire personal copies of the Potter series as well as such items as J. R. R. Tolkien novels, issues of Cosmopolitan and Young Miss magazines, AC/DC recordings, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, and ouija boards. Brock, who organized the demonstration, characterized the Potter series as “a masterpiece of satanic deception.”
People also reacted with “generous cash donations” to the city library, Director Jim Preston told American Libraries. “With this money we are purchasing additional copies of Harry Potter, Tolkien, and Shakespeare.”
The library has extended the Harry Potter display, which was originally mounted in conjunction with the Sorcerer’s Stone November 2001 movie premiere, to reassure children who’ve worried aloud that “Harry Potter may not be safe at the library,” Preston added.
Posted January 7, 2002.