J K Rowling, best selling creator of the Harry Potter phenomenon completed her manuscript of ‘Harry Potter and the  Philosopher’s Stone‘ on an old mechanical typewriter.  Her manuscript was rejected by twelve publishers before the relatively small publishing house Bloomsbury took it on, at the behest of the young daughter of the chairman. JK Rowling (Joanne Kathleen, although the Kathleen is not her real middle name, but her grandmother’s name) first conceived the Harry Potter story on a train in 1990, typing it up over the next five years and finally having it published in 1997. Five months later it won the Nestle Smarties Book Prize, an award she won for three years consecutively for the first three Harry Potter books. Over the next 10 years, Rowling completed her planned seven Harry Potter Books, the fourth book smashing world sales records, with each following book beating it’s predecessor in first day sales. 

JK Rowling is also known for her ‘rags-to-riches’ story, as she was a mature-age student surviving on welfare whilst studying to be a registered teacher in Scotland when she wrote Philosophers Stone. Ten years later she was the twelfth richest woman in Britain.

These holidays the Library is holding  Harry Potter at Hogwarts activities on July 10th, experimenting with potions and makign a potions textbook! For more information on the School Holiday program click here.