Aug 14, 2017
BATAVIA — Due to heavy regional interest, the Richmond Memorial Library will begin distribution of a limited supply of solar eclipse-viewing safety glasses one week early at library eclipse-themed family programs already scheduled for Aug. 14, 16, and 18. The remainder of glasses will be distributed on a first-come basis at an eclipse-viewing lawn party hosted by the library on the afternoon of Aug. 21, after a brief safety demonstration.
“We got a thousand pairs of these glasses from NASA,” Library Director Bob Conrad said. “But under the terms of their grant, we can only distribute them after a safety demonstration that’s a part of our summer reading program. Originally, those demonstrations were all going to be on the afternoon of Aug. 21, during the eclipse. But we’re getting so many calls from people who don’t live here or who are traveling for the eclipse, that we decided to start distribution early by including the safety demo at all of next week’s family programs.”
Those programs include a library craft project (“Make a Sun Magnet”) at 2:30 p.m. Monday; a cooking program (“Make and Eat Your Own Moon Pies”) at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday; and a movie screening of “Home” at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
“I guess we couldn’t afford the rights to Space Jam,” Conrad joked.
The programs are billed for all ages, but registration is recommended to guarantee a space. Register on the library’s website at batavialibrary.org, or by calling the Children’s Room at (585) 343-9550.
According to an interactive map published by NASA’s educational outreach website (eclipse2017.nasa.gov/libraries), Batavia’s public library is the only one in a five county region surrounding Buffalo to participate in the educational program, along with libraries in the Rochester area, Jamestown and Geneseo.
