ST. LOUIS – If you want to learn about stargazing, you can always visit the library and find plenty of books on the subject. But did you know that many St. Louis area libraries can do even more by giving you the tools you need to look to the heavens.

Since 2014, the Saint Louis Astronomical Society has partnered with local libraries to make telescopes available for checkout.

“It’s grown to over 230 telescopes and 140 binoculars. We are the largest in the world right now,” Don Ficken, the library telescope project coordinator with the Astronomical Society, said.

At the Saint Louis County Library, the program was an immediate success.

“We added thirteen more telescopes in a little over a year because we had 500 holds at that point,” Sarah Kuntz Jones, the library’s adult programming coordinator, said. “It was clearly a program that the community was hungry for.”

To date, telescopes have been checked out more than 3,800 times.

“It is a really wonderful program that allows us to introduce our patrons to other things you can check out at the library as well,” Kuntz-Jones said.

Musical instruments, pickleball kits, and wi-fi hot spots are just some of the other non-traditional materials you can check out from the St. Louis County Library’s “Library of Things.”

“As they say, with a lot of services, I didn’t know you could do that with the library!” Kuntz-Jonese said.

To celebrate the telescope anniversary, the county library has been hosting several Star Parties. Attendees get space-themed snacks, free telescope training, and the opportunity to view the night sky with the aid of astronomy enthusiasts.

“The Astronomical Society really works with us to choose nights where there is optimal viewing so that people can really get something out of the experience,” Kuntz-Jones said.

“No matter how much you read. No matter how much you try to do something on your own. It takes about 30 seconds for someone to point you in the right direction and say, ‘Yep, that’s what you’re supposed to do’ and suddenly you’re going crazy on your own,” Ficken said.

The program has telescopes available at libraries on both sides of the Mississippi. Patrons find the telescopes simple to operate and are excited by the amazing views of the solar system they get.

“There is no electronics. Just a simple little red dot finder. It is not unusual to, in five minutes, have an 8-year-old child operating this and in five showing their parents how to use it,” Ficken said.

Adult library patrons can check out a telescope for seven days. The program’s popularity means you might find yourself on a waiting list, but it is worth the wait.