Tompkins
County Public Library’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is now enrolling
promising wizards, witches, and even a few brave muggles, for its special
three-day, fall semester.
Classes
begin Friday, October 27 at 4 p.m. in the BorgWarner Community Room when Dumbledore’s Army welcomes recruits
ages 11 through 18. Led by TCPL’s finest wizards and witches, this course will
help students perfect the skills needed to ward off Death Eaters, including wand-handling
techniques and Defense Against the Dark Arts. The program will conclude with a
competitive Wizarding Duel!
School
is back in session for magically-gifted scholars of all ages and abilities
Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday Family Programming
Young
learners will explore the magic of reading and literacy as Professors Doolittle
and Shortle offer an enchanting Family
Storytime and Puppet Show at 11 a.m. in the Thaler/Howell Programming Room.
Young apprentices and their mentors will be delighted by songs, stories, crafts
and hand-on fun.
Rookie
spell-casters are invited to return to the Library at 2 p.m. to work their
magic by turning individual bricks into imaginative works of art during LEGO at the Library. LEGO bricks and
LEGO idea books from the Library’s collection will be provided. Creations will
be displayed in the Youth Services Department for one week.’
Saturday Adult and Teen Programming
Classes
for advanced wizards and witches begin at 9:30 a.m. with Fantastic Beasts: Fairy Races of the British Isles. Rev. Robert
“Skip” Ellison, Archdruif Emeritus of Ar nDraoicht Fein, will present his
findings on the fantastical fairy races from Brittany, England, Ireland, the
Isle of Man, Scotland and Wales. Most commonly-recognized witches and wizards
are families with brownies and pixies, but Rev. Ellison has the inside scoop
on lesser-known fairies of folklore.
TCPL’s
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry’s popular Herbology course is back for the Third Annual Wizarding Weekend
with an 11:30 a.m. session by Amanda David, owner of Rootwork Herbals and
co-founder of The Bramble Collective. Students will learn how to connect with
regional plants and their uses for health and healing.
Awaken
your Inner Eye and gain access to your inner self and future through Tarot as
Jhenah Telyndru, priestess, author, educator and founder of the Sisterhood of
Avalon, offers a 1:30 p.m. Divinations
class, including information and insight about the intricate meanings of behind
the cards.
Saturday’s
classes will conclude with a 3:30 p.m. course in Astronomy taught by Professor David Kornreich. Students will study
the movement of stars and planets, learn which ones garnered the attention of
ancient wizards and discover how to use a wand to measure celestial movements
and predict seasons.
Sunday
Family Programming
Children’s
classes continue on Sunday at 1:30 with Charms
for Children. TCPL’s Professor Fontana will lead children and their caregivers
in the creation of charms for attracting good luck and warding off evil.
Professor
DeVoe will take over at 3:30 p.m. with Potions
for Children. Students will learn to make magic through science by
employing the principles of physics and chemistry to concoct creative potions.
Sunday Adult and Teen Programming
Teens
and adults are encouraged to learn the foundations of using the positions of
celestial bodies to more fully understand themselves and the world, as Meghan
Tauck offers Divinations: Astrology
at 1:30 p.m. in the BorgWarner Community Room.
The
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry concludes is 2017 academic year at 3:30 p.m.
with a Paranormal Investigations
course led by MJ Carcuro, co-founder of the Albany Paranormal Research Society.
Participants will learn how to identify ghosts and paranormal beings like
Nearly Headless Nick, Peeves and the other ghosts of Hogwarts Castle during
this spirit-filled program.
Tuition
for all courses held at Tompkins County Public Library is free, however, space
is limited. Classes for adults and teens are limited to 110 attendees. Classes
for children and families are limited to 57, and Dumbledore’s Army Training
will be limited to 50 participants.
Library participation in Wizarding
Weekend 2017 is made possible by the Tompkins County Public Library Foundation
with support from the Phyllis and Charles Brodhead Memorial Endowed Fund.