Check out Mercer Library's new telescope

By RICHARD JENKINS

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MERCER, Wis. - Residents are now able to explore the cosmos a bit closer as the Mercer Public Library began lending out a telescope last week.

Purchased with funds provided by the Friends of the Mercer Public Library, the telescope can be checked out for one week by anyone with a valid card from a library that is part of the Merlin system, said library director Teresa Schmidt.

"I'm anxiously awaiting to hear from people in the community how they are having fun with it," Schmidt said, adding that it will only be checked out in person.

"We're not going to be sending it to other libraries, or anything like that, so it's for walk-ins only."

There is no charge to use the telescope, Schmidt said, but there will be a $5-a-day late fee assessed after the initial week.

She asked that the telescope only be returned during library hours so it isn't left outside the door.

Schmidt said she based the purchase of the Orion Starblast telescope on a program by the New Hampshire Astronomical Society.

The telescope has an instruction manual and constellation book to make it easy to use, ensuring it can be used by almost any age group.

"Even a kid could find the moon and really get a good look at the craters and see some exciting things," Schmidt said. "It's very user friendly, it doesn't require a lot of knowledge to use. You can kind of just point and look. And then, if you enjoy it, you can learn more about it and get more sophisticated about what you are looking at."

This is the perfect time of year for stargazing, Schmidt said.

"Right now is actually a great time because it (doesn't stay light as late) so you don't have to stay up late and the sky is much more still when it's cold so you'll get a better look at things that way," she explained.

As the telescope is relatively light, Schmidt said it can be set up on a table or folding chair outside and can be buckled into a seat belt during transportation.

The purchase of the telescope, along with the library's seed library and digital collection of e-books and downloadable audio books, is just part of the way Schmidt said libraries are adapting to the needs of the communities they serve.

"When libraries started, it was because books were too expensive for people to afford. And that's not the case anymore, we have a lot of easy access to books," she said. "As we move into the area where printed information is more accessible and less expensive, I think the library's role is to still gather those things that people either can't afford on their own or don't want to invest in on their own because they are going to use it so infrequently.

"So we have things here, like the (Iron County University of Wisconsin) Extension Office's pressure canner that people can check out. We have a water-bath canner that people can check out. We have board games for those grandparents whose kids come up once a year, they don't want to store a closet full of board games."

Given that libraries should reflect the needs of the community, Schmidt said the materials and programs offered are going to differ from place to place.

"It's just a little bit different everywhere you go, and that's intentional," she said.

More information on the telescope can be found by calling the library at 715-476-2366.