The ‘celestial event of the century’ occurs Monday, August 21 when a rare solar eclipse will pass by Pender County. At 1:30pm, the first 100 visitors in line at the Pender County Library in Burgaw will each receive a free pair of eclipse viewing safety glasses. The library is located at Burgaw at 103 S. Cowan St.

Craft activities will be available for children in the meeting room until 2:30pm where live streaming from NASA can be seen on the big screen. The inside activities will be held regardless of the weather!

Weather permitting, an outside community viewing party will be held on the north lawn of library next to Wilmington Street. Bring your own lawn chair or blanket. Free moon pies will be provided!

The eclipse will begin starting at 1:19pm with the light growing dimmer until 2:48pm when it will reach 96% totality in Burgaw. After that time, the sky will start becoming brighter and the eclipse ends at 4:09pm.

While the library parking lot is limited, additional on-street parking is available throughout the area and in the parking lot at the county’s Holly Building at the corner of Cowan and Fremont Streets.

About 900 pairs of eclipse glasses have already been distributed from both libraries in Burgaw and Hampstead to customers attending educational programs, some supported by the Cape Fear Astronomy Society.

The special eclipse safety glasses were granted to the library system by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through their partner, Star Net. The viewing party event in Burgaw is also supported by the Friends of the Pender County Library.

NASA Television live streaming of the 100 % total eclipse will be broadcast inside the library meeting room as it follows the path from coast to coast. The four hour show, Eclipse Across America, begins at noon with unprecedented live video of the celestial event, along with coverage of activities in parks, libraries, stadiums, festivals and museums across the nation, and on social media.

For more information check the Pender County Public Libraries Facebook page or call 910-259-1234