A blurb on the front cover of my Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reminds me that the wait is nearly over – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” arrives in bookstores tomorrow. The final chapter of the series will have kids and adults lining up at bookstores across the country tonight to grab a copy when it goes on sale at 12:01 a.m.

Flipping further through the paper, I find Milwaukee’s major independent bookstore Schwartz will host a party to celebrate the new book beginning at 9 p.m. The gathering promises costumes and free magical activities that “will keep wizards of all ages happy.” I attended the Schwartz party for the last book release, and enjoyed seeing kids and adults dress in Harry Potter attire. I decided since I am now a Madisonian, I would venture to a local bookstore tonight to enjoy PotterMania one last time.

I grabbed a copy of the Wisconsin State Journal on my way out of the coffee shop to find which local independent bookstores would have festivities tonight. The State Journal realized the importance of this book release, plastering an illustration of Harry across half the cover and moving less significant articles about a missing person and world events to the back pages. The “Potter Parties” section gave details of Madison bookstores that would be open late and have festivities to mark the arrival of “Deathly Hallows.”

Not one independent bookstore was mentioned.

This must be an oversight. I stopped by Frugal Muse on my way home to ask what then had planned for the release. The white-haired man behind the counter informed me they would not open tonight.” We’re leaving that to Barns & Noble.”

I arrived at my apartment and decided to call some of the other independent stores to see what their plans were for PotterMania. That’s when I came to the cold, sick realization – Madison has no independent booksellers.

Madison has a wonderful selection of used bookstores that rival any in the country, but for some reason independent stores that focus on new books are either rare or specialized. Even the small town I grew up in had an independent bookstore (Janke Bookstore, which will be open at 11 for PotterMania).

It seems a local independent chain similar to Schwartz would thrive in this town. Madison has one of the most educated populations of any city in the country. Do they all just buy their books at Borders and not think twice about it?

Disheartened by my findings, I’ve decided to forgo PotterMania at the big chain stores. Maybe for the people of Madison, the idea of an independent bookseller is like Potter himself at the end of the book – dead and mourned by all (ok I made that up, it’s just a guess).

If anyone knows a local independent that has plans for tonight, please feel free to post in the comments section and prove me wrong.