Free Solar Eclipse Glasses

Where will you be on April 8th, the day of the solar eclipse? Are you traveling to locations that will experience totality? Do you need a pair of solar eclipse glasses?

While supplies last, we have a limited supply of FREE solar eclipse glasses available to Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative library card holders ages 18+. There is a limit of 1 pair per family.

Please come to the library to request your pair of glasses. You must have an Okaloosa County library card in good standing. You must present your library card at pick up. You can sign up for a library card if you do not already have one.

We will begin distributing glasses on Wednesday, March 20 and will continue until they are gone. 

Go to the National Solar Observatory webpage for more information about the eclipse and to check out your viewing area.

The glasses are funded by the Space Science Institute (SSI) through its Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries (SEAL) program made possible by generous funding by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The Fort Walton Beach Library was selected as one of the libraries to receive glasses through STAR Net. STAR Net is a hands-on learning network for libraries and their communities across the country (www.starnetlibraries.org). Additional flyers were provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

SAFETY TIPS FOR VIEWING THE ECLIPSE

• Always supervise children during the eclipse and remind them to keep their solar eclipse glasses on.
• If you normally wear eyeglasses, keep them on and put your eclipse glasses on over them.
• You should never look directly at the sun without appropriate eye protection.
• Do not use sunglasses, Polaroid filters, certain welding glass, exposed color film, X-ray film or photographic neutral-density filters to view a solar eclipse.
• Staring directly at the sun can damage your eyes and cause vision loss, which is sometimes permanent.
• Only use solar eclipse glasses and filters that comply with international standards.
• The library’s eclipse glasses are approved for use based on these standards.
• If you can’t go outside or don’t have appropriate eye protection, you can register to view the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse from NASA’s livestream here.