Alex Carpenter and his bandmates, The Remus Lupins, will perform Friday at the Champaign Public Library's Wizard Rock concert. The Remus Lupins were voted band of the year by Wizrocklopedia. Photo courtesy Betsy Su. (click to enlarge)

Ginny and the HeartBreakers, an all-female band from Oklahoma, will kick off Wizard Rock at the Champaign Public Library on Friday. The band will perform popular wizard rock songs such as "Hermione Granger" and "Harry You're A Hottie." Photo courtesy Betsy Su. (click to enlarge)

CHAMPAIGN — Libraries are generally thought of as quiet buildings where people can read and study.

However, on Friday the Champaign Public Library will take on a new role: It will host Wizard Rock, a concert featuring The Remus Lupins and Ginny and the HeartBreakers.

Wizard rock is a musical movement inspired by J.K. Rowling’s phenomenal Harry Potter series.

The movement originated in Massachusetts in 2002 when brothers Joe and Paul DeGeorge wrote a bunch of songs to perform for the audience during a backyard cookout.

Joe and Paul’s show was widely successful and they soon began performing concerts in libraries. They titled their band Harry and the Potters, and wizard rock was born.

Since then, many other groups have created their own wizard rock bands. Typically named after characters from the book series, these bands write lyrics from that character’s perspective and dress like that character when they’re performing on stage.

At the basic level, wizard rock bands are hoping to promote literacy.

In 2006, Harry and the Potters encouraged concert viewers to read books and gave a band toothbrush to each person who turned in a book report. Many of these bands also advocate literacy with banners on their blogs and MySpace pages.

Leading off the 7 p.m. free concert will be an all-female band from Oklahoma, Ginny and the HeartBreakers.

They will be performing popular songs like “Harry You’re A Hottie,” “Hermione Granger,” and possibly less popular songs like their rap “Cho You Ho Back Up.”

The Remus Lupins, voted Wizard Rock Band of the Year by popular vote on the Wizrocklopedia Web site, will headline the show.

The Los Angeles-based band began in 2005 when Alex Carpenter wrote a song about Severus Snape, the “evil” teacher in the Harry Potter series. Carpenter uploaded the song onto his MySpace site, and he has been addicted to writing wizard rock songs ever since.

As part of the promoting literacy movement, The Remus Lupins’ motto is “Fight Evil, Read Books.”

Friday's Wizard Rock event is part of the “Get Inspired! Meet a Hero @ Your Library” reading program at the Champaign Public Library. The library is recommending three hero-related books for children, teens, and adults each month.

In partnership with the Urbana Free Library, Parkland College Library, University of Illinois Library, Champaign Unit No. 4 School District, Urbana School District 116, and The News-Gazette, the Meet a Hero program is made possible by a $100,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the Library Services and Technology Act.

Harry Potter fans of all ages are invited to dress up and stop by Wizard Rock at 200 W. Green St., Champaign. No ticket or registration is needed.