“Eclipse Fever” has taken over North Texas with many trying to find a way to safely watch the event Monday.
Libraries across the region have a limited amount of glasses provided by NASA that allow people to safely watch the eclipse.
“We have had an overwhelming response about the solar glasses from Rowlett and different cities calling to see if we have the glasses,” said Laura Tschoerner of the Rowlett Library.
Tschoerner said the phones have been ringing seemingly non-stop with people looking for the glasses.
“We have been receiving about 40 to 50 calls per day just about the glasses alone,” she said. “We've reached out to other libraries in the Metroplex and found they are having the same overwhelming response.”
She has to tell those callers that the glasses aren’t available – yet.
“Typically, libraries are handing out the class only on the day of the eclipse in conjunction with a program they are having,” she explained.
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The Rowlett library has a special eclipse viewing event from noon until 2 p.m. Monday. There will also be cosmic specialties like Moon Pies and sun tea.
“We have less than 200 goggles for this location,” Tschoerner said. “We are not sure if that's enough but we will be working with people to make the pinhole viewer so you can still see the projection of the eclipse.”
While the heavy phone traffic can be frustrating, most local libraries see it as a chance to renew interest in libraries.
“Holding an event with the eclipse means we can reach out to members of the community who either weren’t aware there was a library or maybe forgot about the library,” Tschoerner said.
