SEATTLE -- He's a young kid, he makes mistakes, and he can certainly get into trouble, but young readers still can't get enough of Harry.

Sure, the new Harry Potter movie is here, and a lot of fans are excited.

"It was hilarious, I loved it. It was so fun!" a fan said outside a local theater.

But the majority of these fans got hooked on Harry by turning the pages.

It's been 10 years since the first Harry Potter book appeared on the scene, and that first book, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" hooked readers of all ages. The series that followed continued to recruit fans.

"I'm such a geeky Harry Potter fan," says actress Emma Watson, who plays Hermione in the Harry Potter movies. "I know the books inside-out, and have read each one at least three times."

Watson isn't alone.

Fans around the world chat, blog, and even sing about their favorite book hero. It's a phenomenon that makes both teachers and librarians smile.

"I was in high school when Harry Potter first came around," says Mamie Custer, who's now 25. She's the assistant managing librarian at the Marysville Library, and knows first-hand that the Harry Potter series is still a big draw.

"Definitely, yeah. We don't have any (Harry Potter books) on the shelves," she said.

She, other librarians and teachers credit the Harry Potter books for getting kids seriously interested in reading...for fun. Some have even joked the books are a "gateway" -- much like an addictive drug -- that hooks kids into reading the rest of their lives.

"It created a whole new generation of readers that maybe were non-readers," she says.

So why is everyone so wild about Harry? Is it the storyline? Is it the characters many kids relate to?

"Maybe it lets them use their imagination, but it still conveys everyday issues?" Custer wonders.

All we really know for sure is at 10 years, books about the boy wizard are now influencing the next generation of readers, young and older alike.

"I'm just happy that people are reading," Custer says, the smile in her voice obvious. "We have things by Nora Roberts and James Patterson, and Harry Potter. To me, it doesn't necessarily if those aren't the most literary types of work. I'm just happy that people are picking books up and reading them."

Spoken like a true muggle-loving librarian.