Over 200,000 Harry Potter Books Donated for Back to Hogwarts Day
Over 200,000 Harry Potter books will be given away for free on September 1 as publishers across three continents team up for this year's Back to Hogwarts Day. Scholastic, Bloomsbury and Pottermore, joined by international publishing partners in ten countries from France to Japan, are donating the copies in what amounts to one of the largest book giveaways tied to the annual fan celebration. Variety
Scholastic alone is distributing 100,000 copies of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone — the U.S. title for the first book in the series — to underserved communities across the United States. A separate 100,000 teachers affiliated with Scholastic Book Clubs will receive the audiobook edition, in collaboration with Audible and Pottermore. The publisher's broader literacy campaign, "If You Give a Child a Book…", focuses on getting free books to low-income children and has been running in various forms alongside past anniversaries of the novel.
In the U.K., Bloomsbury is donating copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone — the original British title — to charities including The National Literacy Trust, Give a Book and Read for Good. Pottermore and Audible are matching those donations with audiobook editions. Pottermore has also lifted waitlists for eBook and digital audiobook versions of the entire Harry Potter series throughout September, meaning library-style borrowing queues for digital copies are suspended for the month.
The audiobook push extends further. The original audiobook editions of the first book, narrated by Stephen Fry (the U.K. voice) and Jim Dale (the U.S. voice), are available for free via the official Harry Potter YouTube channel, Audible, Amazon Music and Spotify. Dale's version is reaching listeners outside North America through YouTube for the first time.
September 1 also brings a one-day fan experience in London with photo opportunities, exclusive giveaways, gaming stations and Harry Potter activities. Attendees will receive a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone from Bloomsbury alongside an audiobook edition.
Neil Blair, founding partner of The Blair Partnership which represents J.K. Rowling, said Back to Hogwarts is about sharing the joy of Rowling's stories and that this year's celebration would "open doors wider" through the first book.
The push arrives alongside the HBO adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which launches September 1 on HBO Max ahead of Back to Hogwarts Day. So the books, the audiobooks and the new television series all land on the same date — one that fans already mark on their calendars as the day Harry boards the Hogwarts Express.
For fans, this means free reading and listening across multiple platforms throughout September. For anyone who has never picked up the series, the barriers are about as low as they get.
