A traveling Harry Potter exhibit magically landed at the Spencer S. Eccles Library this month.
The display shows the medicinal and magical influences the Renaissance had on the Harry Potter book series.
The main exhibit is a series of six panels, each displaying a key element from the series: potions, monsters, herbology, immortality, fantastic beasts and magical creatures. The panels relate the fictional story back to the magic, science and medicine from the 14th to the 17th century.
Joan Gregory, an employee at the Spencer S. Eccles Library, enjoys the exhibit.
“It’s fascinating to see parallels and how much the author, J.K. Rowling, had done in research to make Harry Potter close to reality,” Gregory said. “The story makes sense based off of the reality of the time with the medicine.”
The exhibit is free and features other activities, such as a scavenger hunt that takes you through each level of the Eccles Library and the building’s medicinal gardens, which are planted each year.
Shelli King, who is in charge of the exhibit while it’s at the U, said the library staff “tried to stay on task, but we wanted it to be fun.”
King said Harry Potter has a large following and she hopes the exhibit will bring students from all majors up to the library. She hopes students stick around to study too, especially for finals.
“There doesn’t need to be a divide between upper campus and lower campus,” she said. “We have study spaces and nooks and crannies that are interesting and quiet. Students love studying up here, and we’re open to students not just in the pharmacy or medical field.”
The Harry Potter exhibit will leave the library on Sept. 13. Lectures by professors in the U’s Pharmacy Department will end the display.
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@JulianneSkrivan