Rich Furlong
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - They are lost in space this summer at the Jefferson County Public Library. They've got paper aliens, Captain Underpants and books that are a blast.
The summer reading program is a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, but the library has a mission of its own.
"We want to name the moon," said Rich Furlong, digital marketing specialist for Jefferson County Public Library.
So, the self-proclaimed nerd started an unusual petition.
"All the other planets' moons have super cool names, like Phobos and Titan, and all we get is 'the moon'. That's just lazy, people," said Furlong, reading from the petition.
He first proposed naming the moon 'Jeff' for Jefferson County. Then he came up with "Geoff."
"With the 'Geo' standing for earth and then 'f' for fickle, because it's always changing, and then friend. So, it's earth's fickle friend, Geoff," he explained.
The effort has taken off on social media, kind of.
"71 supporters, there we go," Furlong pointed out proudly.
You can imagine who likes the idea.
"Geoffreys, mostly Geoff, lot of Geoffs," Furlong said pointing out the social media comments.
Some of those opposed had very personal reasons.
"One lady was upset it was named Geoff because her ex-boyfriend was named Geoff," Furlong said.
Others called the out-of-this-world effort "dumb." One man posted, "We'll have to change all the songs 'Bad Geoff Rising', 'Fly Me to the Geoff.'"
Geoff supporters plan to send their petition to the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Even if the idea is eclipsed, they will enjoy having started the celestial conversation.
Furlong admitted it's a little silly, but the idea is to make people curious and ask questions and the real mission is to get people to read.