Library adds stargazing to its collection
St. Catharines facility one of first in Ontario to lend telescopes to patrons who want to explore night sky
St. Catharines Public Library is reaching for the stars with its latest nontraditional collection.
The library has become one of the first in Ontario to lend telescopes to patrons with library cards who want to explore the night sky.
Jake Anderson, collections librarian, said the library wanted to offer another non-traditional collection that would be COVID-19 safe, get people outdoors to enjoy an activity alone or with family or friends, as well as support STEM learning — science, technology, engineering and math. He said telescopes, which are also offered by Ottawa’s library system, seemed like the perfect fit.
“Most people are interested in space and astronomy, but it’s so cost-prohibitive to get into,” Anderson said, adding
even if a person can afford a telescope they may not be 100 per cent sure they want to buy one.
“We thought this would be a great opportunity to give people a chance to try out a telescope before they decided to buy one, or if they can’t afford to purchase one, they can continue to borrow from the library and get into astronomy.”
The library has three telescope sets on offer and hopes to add more as time goes on.
Borrowers don’t have to know anything about telescopes or astronomy to try out a kit. The library partnered with Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Niagara Centre, which helped choose telescopes for beginners and set them so they are as simple to use as possible.
“They do not have to calibrate the telescope or fiddle with all the screws and set pieces and stuff,” Anderson said. “It’s ready to go when they take it home.”
Stan Sammy, vice-president of RASC’S Niagara Centre chapter, said anybody can get into astronomy from a young age.
“One of the nice things about astronomy is that it teaches you to look at the night sky and find out what’s up there, and, of course, we’re all interested in looking up at the stars,” he said. “Learning about the night sky is for everybody.”
Sammy said people who borrow the library telescopes will be able to see craters on the moon and beautiful celestial objects beyond the range of eyesight.
He warned light pollution is rampant in Niagara, so stargazers should try to find somewhere dark like a park or school playground.
If staying in the backyard, he suggested asking neighbours if they’re willing to turn off their exterior lights for a couple of hours.
The club also has a telescope loan program and runs classes for young kids to older adults on what’s in the sky and how to look for it. While COVID-19 put that on hold, anyone interested can check out astronomyniagara.com for updates as offerings become available.
The library started offering the telescope sets on Saturday and it’s already proving popular with 39 holds.
Each set includes an Orion Starblast 4.5 Reflector Tabletop telescope with a custom added Celestron zoom eyepiece, lens cleaning pen, instructions and a National Geographic book with information on backyard stargazing.
Anyone can check out a telescope free with an adult library card by searching “telescope set” in the catalogue at myscpl.ca. Borrowers are allowed to take a telescope for a week at a time and can renew if there are no other holds.
Late fees are $5 a day because it’s an expensive and popular item.
There is a replacement cost of $289 for a lost or broken set, but Anderson said the library purchased padded telescope carrying bags that will, hopefully, protect them.
The telescopes join other nontraditional items at St. Catharines Public Library such as fishing rods for children, internet hot spots, Memory Care Kits for people living with dementia, launchpad learning tablets for kids and outdoor sports kits.