Tiffany Neely, with her eight-year-old daughter Ariel and 10-year-old niece Ashlyn, checks in with Shepherdstown Public Library intern Madelyn Hamaker for the StarLab portable planetarium program on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — This past Thursday through Saturday, the Shepherdstown Public Library (SPL) became the temporary home to a StarLab portable planetarium, which was on loan from Fairmont State University.

According to SPL Youth Services Director Rachel Heller, this was not the first time the library has been loaned a portable planetarium from Fairmont State University. However, this year’s portable planetarium showed some major improvements, that made the programming particularly exciting for astronomy lovers, new and old alike.

“It’s different this year. It’s called the Digital StarLab and now has a computer attached to it, so it can project movies on the ceiling,” Heller said. “Previously, there were cylinders in the planetarium that were used to project light on the ceiling.”

Last year was the first time the SPL had borrowed the StarLab, after Heller had heard about it from other libraries who had borrowed it, in conjunction with their summer reading programs. Running it proved to be a bit of a challenge, as librarians had no choice but to memorize the script for the planetarium show, to be able to present it conjunction with each new projection in the planetarium’s dark space. That challenge was removed this year, with the introduction of the voice-over movie programming that was further improved by a projector connected to the computer and a new, compact inflatable planetarium.

Heller noted that some of the programs — such as the ones she selected to show on the galaxy last week — are geared toward elementary school-level students, while others are geared toward high school-level students. The movies were created by NASA for planetarium displays, like those offered by StarLab. In the future, Heller hopes the library will be able to loan the planetarium for a longer period of time, so the library can feature shows for an older age group or related to some of the other topics featured in the planetarium’s computer database.

A new StarLab portable planetarium was located inside the children’s department of the Shepherdstown Public Library last Thursday through Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

“If I’m doing something for the kids, typically I’ll do a program on the constellations, like the Greek ones or Native American ones. But they have other programs on the moon phases, the solar eclipse and geology,” Heller said. “There’s so much curriculum in the computer!”

For Heller, this immersive programming was one way she hoped to expand the interests and knowledge of local children. And, based on the increase in number of space-themed books being checked out of the children’s department last week, she said she would have to say that she succeeded in her efforts.

The planetarium also proved to be a great tool to attract children to the library, who might otherwise not have been interested in visiting it, such as children with a strong interest in science.

“They’re pretty interested in all things STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) related. It is where their wheelhouse of learning and fun is. I try to find activities with that — not just based on coloring and arts-and-crafts. And, anything related to the outer space world, they are interested in,” said Shepherdstown resident Tiffany Neely, who attended the last planetarium show with her eight-year-old daughter Ariel and 10-year-old niece Ashlyn. “They both like space. They have telescopes and have constellation books, and can tell you what’s in the sky.”

Over the next few weeks, the planetarium will be moving to three other local libraries, with no required show sign-ups. It will be open at the Musselman-South Berkeley Public Library this Saturday, with showings at 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. It will have featured showings in the Hedgesville Public Library at 10:30 a.m. on June 28 and 29. And at the Martinsburg Public Library, it will be open on July 11, with a showing at 4:30 p.m., and on July 12 and 13, with showings at 10:30 a.m.