Announcing the addition of a "Binocular" Checkout Program
to our popular "Telescope" Program
Our new "binocular checkout program" has proven very popular with St. Louis area libraries. The program adds a "binocular kit" to area libraries for checkout just like a book. This is a great addition to our already successful library telescope checkout program.
The library binocular program has launched in 2019. The program current has 140 binoculars in circulation:
| LOCATION/STATE | BINOCULARS |
| MISSOURI | |
| Brentwood Public Library | 1 |
| De Soto Public Library | 3 |
| Ferguson Municipal Public Library | 2 |
| Festus Public Library | 4 |
| Jefferson College Library | 2 |
| Jefferson County Library | 5 |
| Kirkwood Public Library | 2 |
| Maplewood Library | 2 |
| Riverside Regional Library | 6 |
| Rock Hill Public Library | 3 |
| Scenic Regional Library | 9 |
| St. Charles City-County Library | 12 |
| St. Louis County Library | 35 |
| St. Louis Public Library | 15 |
| University City Library | 5 |
| Valley Park Public Library | 2 |
| Webster Groves Public Library | 2 |
| YMCA Trout Lodge | 2 |
| Subtotal Missouri | 112 |
| ILLINOIS | |
| Belleville Public Library | 2 |
| Case-Halstead Public Library | 1 |
| Caseyville Public Library | 2 |
| Edwardsville Library | 2 |
| Fairview Heights Library | 3 |
| Glen Carbon Memorial Library | 3 |
| Hayner Public Library | 2 |
| Louis Latzer Memorial Public Library | 3 |
| Maryville Community Library | 2 |
| Mascoutah Public Library | 1 |
| Morrison-Talbot Public Library | 2 |
| New Athens District Library | 1 |
| O'Fallon Public Library | 3 |
| Six Mile Regional Library District | 1 |
| Subtotal Illinois | 28 |
| TOTAL LIBRARIES - PUBLIC CHECKOUT | 140 |
Background
The St. Louis Astronomical Society, the Astronomical Society of Eastern Missouri and the Eastern Missouri Dark Sky Observers club in Missouri, and the Riverbend Astronomy Club in Illinois have partnered with the St. Louis Audubon Society to create a unique program where libraries can offer their patrons a binocular "kit" for use in stargazing and birdwatching. Each binocular "kit" will consist of the following:
- One pair of Vortex Crossfire 8x42 Binoculars (https://vortexoptics.com/vortex-crossfire-8x42-binocular.html)
- One laminated, folding pocket guide on the "Night Sky" published by Waterford Press: (http://www.waterfordpress.com/Products/series/pocket-naturalist/night-sky-the/)
- One laminated, folding pocket guide on birds published by Waterford Press (http://www.waterfordpress.com/Products/collection/bestsellers/backyard-birds-of-eastern-central-north-america/)
- One laminated user manual with instructions on how to use the binoculars
- One waterproof, hard case to neatly hold everything (we are purchasing an "Apache 1800" hard case)
The cost of the "kit" is just $150.00 (excluding shipping, if necessary) for the launch. MRSP for the binoculars is $189.99 without the hardcase, user manual and pocket guides. The typical price for just the binoculars from retailers is $140.00, so this is great deal.
We are allow libraries to order the "binoculars only" for use by staff in programming. This option is not intended for patron checkout. To learn more about pricing of this option, please contact us.
Selecting the right binoculars was a critical part of our team's evaluation. We know they will be heavily used, often by inexperienced library patrons. With this in mind, we put together a fairly challenging list of specifications. We wanted the binoculars to be:
- Versatile, for viewing the night sky (astronomy) and nature (birds, etc.)
- Light weight, for ease of handling by ages 10 or older without a tripod
- Waterproof, with anti-reflective lens coatings to increase light transmission
- Large enough in objective lens size to gather sufficient light for viewing the night sky and provide a bright view in the daytime (42 mm diameter is good)
- Just right in magnification to enable steady viewing by hand (8X is good)
- Able to obtain focus down to less than ten feet for close-up views of nature (e.g., insects and flowers).
- Affordable with an unlimited, unconditional lifetime warranty
Our final bundle meets these criteria. We make no guarantees, but field testing with library patrons and the general public has yielded very positive results. With skepticism we found that the focus of 7.5 feet actually worked as advertised. Stars were crisp to view with some high schoolers astonished at how many stars they could see compared to their unaided eye. One program participant easily tracked a bird flying across the sky.
Importantly, we like the Vortex Optics VIP unlimited, lifetime warranty which is more fully explained at https://vortexoptics.com/vip-warranty. This was the hardest criteria to satisfy.
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