Overview - Telescopes Deployed
The St. Louis Library Telescope Program currently has 184 telescopes deployed in the St. Louis area. More than 60 library locations across two states and fifteen counties are participating in the program.
Of the 184 telescopes deployed in the St. Louis area, 173 telescopes are available for "public" checkout and 12 are exclusively available to "educators" for checkout. The 12 telescopes available for educator telescopes include three Orion StarBlast 4.5" reflector telescopes and nine SunSpotter Solar Telescopes.
130 telescopes of the 184 telescopes deployed were purchased directly by libraries, 28 were donated by amateur astronomy clubs and 26 were donated by private or corporate donors.
Program History by Year
St. Louis Program Launch in 2014
In November 2014, eighteen (18) library telescopes were deployed into the St. Louis area libraries.
Participating libraries included Kirkwood Library (1 telescope), St. Louis County (10 telescopes), St. Louis Public Library (5 telescopes), University City Library (1 telescope) and YMCA Trout Lodge (1 telescope). SLAS donated three of the 18 telescopes. The remaining telescopes were purchased by the participating organizations.
St. Louis Program Expansion in 2015
Forty-one (41) telescopes were added in 2015.
In January 2015, St. Louis Astronomical Society donated two (2) additional telescopes to St. Louis County Library. Funding for the two telescopes was from the St. Louis Astronomical Society winning a national award from Astronomy Magazine called the Out-of-this-World Award. Eric Button, Assistant Director Branch Services for St. Louis County Library was excited to accept the telescopes which will be placed into the Grant's View and Thornhill Branches of St. Louis County Library. The St. Louis Astronomical Society decided to donate these telescopes to St. Louis County Library because the library had over 572 patrons waiting to checkout library telescopes.
In May 2015, an additional thirty-four (34) additional library telescopes were deployed into area libraries. New libraries participating in the program were Belleville Public Library (3 telescopes), Hayner Public Library in Alton (5 telescopes), Jefferson County Library (3 telescopes), St. Charles City-County Library (9 telescopes), eight new independent libraries which are part of the Municipal Library Consortium of St. Louis County (9 telescopes) and five new branches in St. Louis County Library (5 telescopes). SLAS was pleased to partner with the Astronomical Society of Eastern Missouri (ASEM) to support expansion of the program into St. Charles City-County. Of the thirty four (34) telescopes deployed on May 29th, the libraries directly purchased twenty two (22) of the telescopes. Of the remaining twelve (12) telescopes, SLAS donated four (4) telescopes, ASEM donated three (3) telescopes, private donors in Alton donated three (3) telescopes and Orion Telescopes & Binoculars (Orion) donated two (2) telescopes.
In October 2015, an additional five (5) library telescopes were added to the St. Louis regional area deployment. SLAS partnered with SIUE to expand the SLAS Library Telescope Program into Edwardsville and Collinsville Illinois. Of the five library telescopes available for patron checkout, three telescopes were deployed into the Edwardsville Public Library and two telescopes into the Mississippi Valley Library District in Collinsville. The "Edwardsville Library Friends" donated the funds for the Edwardsville expansion and the Mississippi Valley Public Library District directly funded their expansion.
St. Louis Program Expansion in 2016
Seventy-two (72) telescopes were added in 2016.
In March 2016, twenty-nine (29) telescopes were added to the St. Louis area library telescope program. St. Louis County Library added twelve (12) telescopes with the program expanding to all their remaining locations. New libraries to the program included the De Soto Public Library with three (3) telescopes, Glen Carbon Centennial Library District with three (3) telescopes, and Festus Public Library with one (1) telescope. Several libraries added more telescopes to existing locations with the goal of reducing waiting time: St. Charles City-County Library - four (4) telescopes; Jefferson County Library - three (3) telescopes; Saint Louis Public Library - two (2) telescopes; University City Library - one (1) telescope. The St. Louis Astronomical Society donated four (4) of the telescopes in this expansion with the libraries directly purchasing the remaining twenty-five (25) telescopes.
In August 2016, forty-three (43) more telescopes were added to the St. Louis area library telescope program raising the area count to 131 telescopes. The program expanded into Cape Girardeau, Perry, Franklin and Scott Counties. New libraries into the program included Scenic Regional Library (10 telescopes), Riverside Regional Library (8 telescopes), Jefferson College Library (3 telescopes), Louis Latzer Memorial Library (2 telescopes), Cape Girardeau Library (1 telescope), East St. Louis Library (1 telescope) and SEMO Kent University Library (1 telescope). Several libraries added more telescopes to their existing program, namely St. Louis County Library (7 telescopes), St. Charles City-County Library (6 telescopes), Festus Public Library (2 telescopes), University City Library (1 telescope) and Webster Groves Library (1 telescope). The St. Louis Astronomical Society donated four (4) of the telescopes in this expansion and the Astronomical Society of Eastern Missouri donated three (3) telescopes with the remaining thirty six (36) telescopes purchased directly by the libraries either through their own funds or from private donations.
St. Louis Program Expansion in 2017 ("Educator" checkout program added)
Twenty (20) telescopes were added in 2017.
In April 2017, the St. Louis Library Telescope Program established an "Educator" checkout program which sets aside telescopes for exclusive checkout by area educators. As part of this program, thirteen (13) SunSpotter Solar Telescopes were deployed into the St. Louis Library Telescope Program raising the area count to 144 telescopes.
Libraries receiving the thirteen (13) SunSpotter Telescopes were St. Louis County Library (4 telescopes), St. Louis Public Library (3 telescopes), St. Charles City-County (1 telescope), Festus Public Library (1 telescope), De Soto Public Library (1 telescope), Jefferson County Library (1 telescope), Ferguson Public Library (1 telescope) and University City Library (1 telescope).
Funding for twelve of the SunSpotter Solar Telescopes was provided by the Steinheider Duncombe Mini-Grants Program of the American Astronomical Society Solar Eclipse Task Force, with support from the National Science Foundation. Only thirty-one proposals were funded nationwide. The Duncombe Mini-Grants are intended to inform and engage the public with the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017. An additional telescope was donated by the Astronomical Society of Eastern Missouri for circulation in the Saint Charles area.
In June 2017, seven (7) Orion StarBlast 4.5 Reflector telescopes were added to the St. Louis Library Telescope Program raising the area count to 151 telescopes. Two of the telescopes were deployed to new libraries in the "Public" checkout program, namely Fairview Public Heights Library (1 telescope) and Sainte Genevieve County Library (1 telescope). The remaining five telescopes were deployed as part of the new "Educator" checkout program. The telescopes are modified in manner similar to the same model used for the public checkout program with some variations to make the telescope more suitable for classroom use by educators.
Libraries receiving these telescopes included St. Louis County Library (2 telescopes), St. Louis Public Library (2 telescopes) and St. Charles City-County Library (1 telescope). Funding for five Orion StarBlast 4.5" Reflector telescopes was from the St. Louis Astronomical Society (4 telescopes) and the Astronomical Society of Eastern Missouri (1 telescope). In March 2018, two (2) Orion StarBlast 4.5 Reflector telescopes were added to the St. Louis Library Telescope Program raising the area count to 153 telescopes. One telescope was added to Scenic Regional Library and one telescope was added to the Cape Girardeau Public Library. Funding for the telescopes was provided by the libraries.
St. Louis Program Expansion in 2018
Nine (9) telescopes were added to the program in 2018.
In March 2018, two (2) telescopes were added to the program. In Missouri, Cape Girardeau Public Library joined the program with one (1) telescope and Scenic Regional Library added one (1) telescope to their existing program. Funding for both telescopes was provided by the libraries. No new telescopes were added in Illinois.
In July 2018, seven telescopes (7) were added to the program. Saint Louis Public Library added three (3) telescopes to the program. Two new libraries in Illinois were added to the program, namely Caseyville Public Library with one (1) telescope and Scott Air Force Base with one (1) telescope. All additions were funded directly by the libraries.
St. Louis Program Expansion in 2019
Twelve (12) telescopes were added to the program in 2019.
In Spring 2019, seven (7) telescopes were added to the program. Two (2) telescopes were added to YMCA Trout Lodge in Missouri. O'Fallon Public Library in Illinois joined the program with three (3) telescopes. The St. Louis Astronomical Society partnered with the Astronomical Association of Southern Illinois (AASI) to add one (1) telescope to Anne West Library District in Cartersville, IL and one (1) telescope to Sallie Logan Library in Murphysboro, IL. The telescope for Cartersville was donated by the Rotary Club of Cartersville and AASI donated the telescope for Sallie Logan Library and the "trainer". O'Fallon Public Library and YMCA Trout Lodge funded the purchase of their telescopes. Additionally, Astronomical Association of Southern Illinois added one (1) telescope for use in training.
In August 2019, five (5) telescopes were added to the program. The St. Louis Astronomical Society partnered with the Astronomical Association of Southern Illinois (AASI) to add one (1) telescope to the Carbondale Public Library in Carbondale, IL, two (2) telescopes to Anne West Library District in Cartersville, IL and one (1) telescope to the Stinson Public Library in Anna, IL. Additionally, the St. Louis Astronomical Society partnered with the Eastern Missouri Dark Sky Observers to add one (1) telescope to the Riverside Regional Library - Sullivan Branch. The telescopes for Anne West Library were donated the by the Rotary Club of Cartersville, the telescope for Carbondale Library was donated by the Kiwanis Club of Carbondale, and the telescope for Stinson Public Library was donated by the Helen and Wm Elzy Womick Family.
St. Louis Program Expansion in 2020
Five (5) telescopes were added to the program in 2020 and four (4) Sunspotters were taken out of service resulting in a net gain of one telescope during the year,
In Spring 2020, one (1) telescope was added to Scenic Regional Library and two (2) telescopes were added to Adair County Public Library in Kirksville, MO. In Fall 2020, an additional two (2) were added to Adair County Public Library. St. Louis County Library removed four (4) Sunspotter telescopes from service (Sunspotters by educators to project an image fo the Sun).
St. Louis Program Expansion in 2021
Eleven (11) telescopes were added to the program in 2021. Two (2) telescopes from St. Louis Public Library were removed from service.
In the 2021 expansion, Festus Public Library added one (1) telescope, Astronomical Society of Southern Illinois added two (2) telescopes, Scenic Regional Public Library added two (2) telescopes, the Springfield Astronomical Society added one (1) telescope, Tri-Township Public Library District in Illinois added one (1) telescope, Six Mile Reginal Library District in Illinois added one (1) telescope, and O'Fallon Public Library in Illinois joined the program with three (3) telescopes.
St. Louis Program Expansion in 2022
Fourteen (14) telescopes were added to the program in 2022.
In Missouri, St. Louis Public Library added ten (10) telescopes. In Illinois, Maryville Community Library joined with one (1) telescope, Mascoutah Public Library joined with one (1) telescope, and Morrison-Talbott Library in Waterloo with joined with two (2) telescopes.
St. Louis Program Expansion in 2023
So far in 2023, thirty-nine (39) telescopes were added to the program with plans to add at least three (3) additional telescopes by the end of 2023. Two (2) telescopes from St. Louis Public Library were removed from service.
In Missouri, St. Louis Public Library added six (6) telescopes and St. Louis County Library added thirty (30) telescopes. In Illinois, Columbia Public Library joined the program with two (2) telescopes and Case-Halstead (Carlyle) joined the program with one (1) telescope.