The Alameda Free Library has a number of events coming up this month designed specifically for young people in the Island City.

Summer After Party for Kids & Adults
The public is invited to a party to celebrate readers’ success in the Summer Reading Challenge. Bring a dish to contribute to this pot-luck picnic, the library will provide drinks and games. Bring something to sit on and picnic supplies. Summer Reading Challenge adult and teen prize winners will be drawn at this event. Readers need not be present to win. All prizes must be picked up by Aug. 12. For more information call 747-7713 or email refdesk@alamedaca.gov.

Sun Science with Dr. Amy Furniss
Residents of all ages can take a short course on solar activity and the coming solar eclipse Tuesday, Aug. 8, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. with Dr. Amy Furniss, an assistant professor at Cal State University East Bay. More information about Furniss may be found at www.astrofurniss.com. Free solar viewing glasses will be available at this event.

Flower Crown Workshop
Want to look like a real-life version of a Snapchat filter? Visit the Alameda Free Library Thursday, Aug. 10, 2 to 3:30 p.m. to make flower crowns and accessories that will create pictures with no flower crown filter required. The event is open to teens ages 13 to 18. 

Teens can use fake flowers, wire cutters, tulle, headbands and creativity to make unique accessories. The workshop will teach techniques for using and placing fake flowers and then provide time to create various types of accessories. 

Participants will be able to take home any items they make. All materials will be supplied by the library.

Alameda Free Library to View the Eclipse
Alameda Free Library has been chosen as one of 1,500 public libraries across the nation to participate as a center for eclipse education and viewing for the “Great American Eclipse” on Monday, Aug. 21. The Library has been awarded 1,000 solar viewing glasses and other resources centered on eclipse education by the Space Science Institute (SSI), NASA@My Library and the Moore Foundation. 

On Aug. 21, beginning around 9 a.m. Pacific Time, a spectacular total eclipse of the sun will be visible across the width of the continental U.S. for the first time since 1918. Every state will have at least 60 percent of the sun covered by the moon, and lucky people on a narrow path from Oregon to South Carolina will see the stunning beauty of totality. Coverage in the Alameda area is expected to be about 76 percent. 

Alameda Free Library will provide programming leading up to the eclipse as well as viewing on the morning of the eclipse. If it is a cloudy or foggy morning, viewing will be held in the Stafford Community Rooms via live feed projected onto the library’s large screen. 

Viewing glasses are available for free to the public now. Community members are encouraged to pick up a pair and watch the eclipse from wherever they happen to be, and to join in the eclipse programming provided by the library. 

The community is reminded to never look at the sun with unprotected eyes as the sun’s rays (both visible and invisible) can cause serious damage to the sensitive eye tissue.