SOURCE: “Harry's Defense Team,” in School Library Journal, Vol. 46, No. 5, May, 2000, p. 17.

In the following essay, the critic describes “Muggles for Harry Potter,” a national organization dedicated to fighting efforts to ban J. K. Rowling's titles in schools.

“Muggles for Harry Potter” is a national organization launched to fight efforts to restrict access to J. K. Rowling's titles in schools. Eight associations—representing booksellers, librarians, publishers, teachers, writers, and citizens—formed the group to counter growing censorship of the Harry Potter series. “Muggles for Harry Potter is fighting for the right of students and teachers to use the best books that are available to children, even when some parents object;’ explains Christopher Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. “The Potter books are helping turn videogame players into readers. We can't allow censorship to interfere with that.” One of the group's objectives is to encourage...