Experts agree that there is a national imperative to graduate students with a thorough understanding of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). St Louis County Library is engaging children in STEM-related activities as early as possible to engender an interest in continuing education in these fields. The St. Louis Astronomical Society is planning for the “big bang” event in 2017, the total eclipse of the sun that should be visible in St. Louis. In an effort to provide increased participation in this event, the society reached out to the library to determine interest in providing telescopes to our patrons.

The Society purchases and assembles the telescopes, provides a guide to the night sky and a pack of tools useful in making the viewing experience optimal. The telescope is the Orion Starblast 4.5-inch telescope. St. Louis Astronomical Society donated one telescope for circulation and the library purchased another nine to begin offering telescopes to the public in November 2014. In response to demand, more were added in 2015. In 2016, the St. Louis County Library Foundation secured a sponsor and additional telescopes were added, making it possible to check-out a telescope at each of the library’s 20 locations.

The telescope lending program was a success from its beginning in 2014. Each year since then we have added telescopes to help meet the demand. We routinely have around 500 patrons on the waiting list for the 28 telescopes now in circulation throughout the system. In addition to the telescopes, we host Star Parties with St. Louis Astronomical Society volunteers to educate the public in astronomy and to encourage the use of our telescopes. One Star Party last year had 86 in attendance where a patron noted, “Got to see Venus, craters on the Moon, and the moons of Jupiter.”