The Joseph H. Plumb Library has received a donation that is out of this world.
By the end of August, the Plumb Library will be the first library in Southeastern Massachusetts to offer its patrons the opportunity to check out a telescope in the same way one would check out a book, a DVD, or a My Own Back Yard (MOBY) backpack.
Donated by John Jawor, in honor of his parents and in memory of the Aldrich Astronomical Society, the Orion 4.5-inch Starblast telescope, valued at $350, will be available for checkout for a week at a time. The telescope kit will include three books on stars, instructions on how to use the telescope, a red LED headlamp, and a small red LED flashlight all packed into a totebag.
The tabletop telescope has been altered so the eyepiece will not fall out, and anything that can be removed or misplaced has been permanently affixed so it will not come off. Green dots will mark all the knobs and buttons the user will need to use to fine-tune the telescope and, essentially, as Plumb Library Director Gail Roberts put it, “They’ve done everything. It’s got everything.”
Roberts said she herself brought the telescope home recently to try it out in her own backyard. She was not disappointed.
“We saw the rings of Saturn, we saw the International Space Station, you can see quite a bit,” said Roberts.
On Monday, August 24 at 7:30 pm, the library is hosting a presentation and throwing a “star party” where guests will learn about the telescope through a presentation conducted by Roberts, followed by a hands-on learning opportunity outside after the gathering. The library has invited Jawor to attend the event.
“We’re very honored … and very excited about how we’re going to catalog this and get it together,” said Roberts. “Check it out, try it out, and bring it back.”
It is that simple, said Roberts.
“It’s a very cool thing,” Roberts said. “We’re very honored to have this – to be the first library in the area to have this.”
By Jean Perry
