August 21st is the day there will be a total eclipse of the sun in North America. Locally, it will be seen as a partial eclipse with 85 to 90 percent of the sun covered by the moon in the early afternoon. There are several local watching events, including at the Ypsilanti District Library.

89.1 WEMU'S Lisa Barry spoke with Molly Beedon, youth services librarian for the Ypsilanti District Library, who talks about the NASA expert coming to speak on the day of the eclipse and that they have special eclipse watching glasses they are giving away.

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Excitement continues to build for the upcoming solar eclipse happening August 21st. It will be a total eclipse in some parts of the country, but the sun will be 85 to 90 percent covered in our area.

All 3 Ypsilanti District Library locations are planning solar eclipse events on that day.

Ypsilanti youth services librarian Molly Beeden says there will be activities, telescopes, and a NASA solar system ambassador at the Whitaker branch

"She’s going to be here answering questions, talking about what’s going on, and she’s going to be conducting a program for the kids using UV beads. They’re beads that turn color in the sun,” says Beeden.

Beeden says they also obtained several thousand pairs of eclipse watching glasses from NASA and are giving them away for the asking at any of their 3 branches.

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— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu