Summer fun continues in July at the Cosmos Public Library. The summer reading program for children and teens has been happening since Memorial Day, but it’s not too late to sign up. Stop in anytime to get started with a reading game sheet, a book bag, and some free goodies.

Have your kids already started the summer reading program? Bring them in with their completed reading logs to get tickets that can be redeemed for a variety of fun prizes. Businesses in Cosmos, Hutchinson, and Litchfield have donated certificates for small treats that have been added to the prize choices. Get new reading sheets and keep leveling up over and over again this summer!

Pokémon trading card game time will continue every Monday in July. This program is held in the library from 10:30 a.m. to noon. It’s open to kids ages 7 to 18, whether they know how to play or want to learn. The library has all of the cards needed to play, but players can bring their own if they wish. An adult or teen should accompany any child younger than age 8. Free to attend. No need to sign up.

For Space Fest, Cosmos Library is again offering mini golf in the community room from 5-8 p.m. on Friday, July 18. It’s free and open to all ages. No registration required.

July’s storytime will also be held during Space Fest weekend. On Saturday, July 19, bring the little ones to the library at 10:30 a.m. for stories and activities with Miss Jessica. No need to sign up.

The library’s monthly LEGO Time will be held on Monday, July 21, from 2-3 p.m. Open to ages 5-18. The library provides the LEGOs.

Want to learn about bats in Minnesota? A Minnesota State Parks naturalist will present a program about them on Thursday, July 24, at 3 p.m. in the community room. This is an interesting program for families and kids of all ages. Free to attend; no need to sign up.

Cosmos Library is located in city hall. The phone number is 320-440-1012, and the website is www.cosmos.lib.mn.us. The library’s hours are Mondays 10-5, Tuesdays 2-5, Thursdays 2-6, Fridays 2-5, and Saturdays 10-1. Pioneerland libraries will be closed on Friday, July 4, for Independence Day.

There’s still a whole month of summer fun at the Cosmos Public Library! If kids haven’t gotten to the library yet to sign up for the summer reading program, Level Up at Your Library, they can still do that through the middle of August. The program is open to ages 3-18. Completed reading game sheets and reading logs can be turned in for library loot and prizes can be claimed through the end of August. Many exciting prize choices are available for kids of all ages.

Two fun craft programs will be offered on Saturday, August 16. A diamond art class for kids will be held at 10:30 a.m. in the meeting room, taught by Kristin. Please stop at the front desk or call the library at 320-440-1012 to sign up for this free class. The program is open to ages 8-12. All supplies will be provided, and kids will have a choice of small projects featuring familiar characters.

At the same time that day, 10:30-12:30, Craft Circle will be held in the library, led by Katie. This is a bring-your-own craft program for adults and teens ages 16 and up, offering a chance to socialize with other creative people. Teens ages 13-15 can attend with an adult. No instruction or supplies will be provided. No messy crafts such as paint or resin, please, since the program will take place in the library itself. Suggested crafts include knitting, crochet, papercrafting, jewelry making, embroidery, and drawing.

The August storytime will take place on Saturday, August 23, at 10:30 a.m. Bring the little ones to the library for stories and fun activities with Miss Jessica. No need to register. Children younger than age 8 must be accompanied by an adult or teen caregiver.

Did you try the button maker in May? It will be back for the week of August 11. Stop in anytime during library hours August 11 through 16 to make a free Pokémon pin, or a few. It’s a fun, quick activity!

Pokémon TGC continues for children and teens on Mondays through August, led by Gene. Kids ages 7 and older are invited to play Pokémon trading card game, or learn to play in an encouraging environment. It’s free to attend, and the library has all of the cards needed to play. Kids can bring their own cards if they wish. The program is held from 10:30 to noon on August 4, 11, 18, and 25. No need to register.

LEGO Time will be held on Monday, August 18, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. The library has the LEGOs, and there’s no need to sign up. Open to ages 5-18. Children younger than age 8 should be accompanied by an adult or teen caregiver.

As usual, some take-home activity kits will be available during the month of August. Check the calendar in the library or on the library’s website for details.

Cosmos Library is located in city hall. The phone number is 320-440-1012, and the website is www.cosmos.lib.mn.us. The library’s hours are Mondays 10-5, Tuesdays 2-5, Thursdays 2-6, Fridays 2-5, and Saturdays 10-1. Pioneerland libraries will be closed on Monday, September 1, for Labor Day.

Kids ages 5-18 are invited to LEGO Time at the Cosmos Public Library this summer! The program will be held in the library from 2-3 p.m. on the 3rd Monday of the month:

• June 16
• July 21
• August 18

Children younger than age 8 must be accompanied by an adult or teen caregiver. Free to attend. No need to sign up. No need to bring anything – the library has the LEGOs!

Kids age 7 and up, come to the Cosmos Library this summer on Mondays June 2 through August 25 to play the Pokémon trading card game! Drop by between 10:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. to play.

The program will not be held June 23rd or 30th.

• Free to attend
• No sign-up needed
• No experience necessary
• Kids 7 and older
• New players encouraged

The library has all the cards needed to play. If you want to bring your own, you can. Whether you’re a new player, experienced, or just curious, come join us in a friendly learning environment.

Kids under age 8 must have a teen or adult caregiver with them. Parents/caregivers are welcome to stay with their children.

For more information, stop at the library or call 320-440-1012.

This summer, kids are invited to Level Up at Your Library – the theme of this year’s summer reading program! “Level Up at Your Library” is a summer reading program based around games and puzzles.

At Cosmos Public Library the program will begin the day after Memorial Day: Tuesday, May 27. Kids ages 3-18 can sign up that day or any day throughout the summer. The program runs through August 30^th.

The summer reading program is something kids do on their own time, working their way through the reading game sheets by reading or being read to and doing other fun activities. The reading log for children looks like a board game. The teen reading log is a chart to simply record hours spent reading.

When they sign up, kids get book bag filled with a few freebies, including a small word find book. When they turn in a completed reading sheet, they will earn “library loot,” play money that they can turn in for a choice of small prizes.

The goal of the summer reading program is to encourage kids to read all summer long so that they keep up their reading skills and return to school in the fall ready to learn. Because of that, kids can do one reading sheet after another all summer until late August and keep earning prizes.

So many fun activities are happening for kids at the library this summer:

Pokémon gaming: most Mondays June 2–August 25, 10:30 am—noon. No games June 23 or 30. For kids ages 7 and up

LEGO Time: 3rd Monday of the month, 2-3 pm. Ages 5-18

Storytimes: Saturdays June 7, July 19, and August 23, 10:30 am

Science Heroes: Adventure of the Missing Color: Friday June 6, 4 pm

CLIMB Theatre: Babe the Blue Ox: Friday June 13, 2 pm

Science Museum: Engineering: Monday June 23, 3 pm

Princess Kay storytime: Friday June 27, 3 pm

Space Fest mini golf: Friday July 18, 5-8 pm. All ages.

DNR Naturalist: Bats: Thursday July 24, 3 pm

Button making: August 11-16 all day

Take-home crafts and activities for a variety of ages will be available from time to time throughout the summer.

Visit Cosmos Library with the kids this summer and Level Up at Your Library!

Take a look at the most-borrowed items of 2024 for Pioneerland Library System!

Top adult fiction

• The women / Kristin Hannah.
• The river we remember : a novel / William Kent Krueger.
• Three-inch teeth : a Joe Pickett novel / C. J. Box
• Toxic prey / John Sandford.
• Spirit crossing : a novel / William Kent Krueger.
• The housemaid / Freida McFadden.
• The teacher / Freida McFadden.
• A calamity of souls / David Baldacci.
• Mind games / Nora Roberts.
• The truth about the Devlins / Lisa Scottoline.

Top adult nonfiction

• Dear Jacob : a mother’s journey of hope / Patty Wetterling with Joy Baker.
• Hillbilly elegy : a memoir of a family and culture in crisis / J.D. Vance.
• The boys in the boat : nine Americans and their epic quest for gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics / Daniel James Brown.
• House of Kahmanns : a memoir : a story about family love and shattered bonds, about finding each other in the aftermath / P. G. Kahmann.
• Killers of the Flower Moon : the Osage murders and the birth of the FBI / David Grann.
• The demon of unrest / Erik Larson.
• Oath and honor : a memoir and a warning / Liz Cheney.
• Gunflint falling : blowdown in the Boundary Waters / Cary J. Griffith.
• The anxious generation : how the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness / Jonathan Haidt.
• Atomic habits : tiny changes, remarkable results : an easy & proven way to build good habits & break bad ones / James Clear.

Top young adult fiction

• One-Punch Man / story by One ; art by Yusuke Murata ; translation, John Werry.
• A court of thorns and roses / Sarah J. Maas.
• A good girl’s guide to murder / Holly Jackson.
• One piece / story and art by Eiichiro Oda.
• The seven deadly sins / Nakaba Suzuki ; [translator, Christine Dashiell ; lettering, James Dashiell].
• The ballad of songbirds and snakes / Suzanne Collins.
• Powerless / Lauren Roberts.
• One of us is lying / Karen M. McManus.
• If he had been with me / Laura Nowlin.
• Death note / story by Tsugumi Ōba ; art by Takeshi Obata ; translation & adaptation, Pookie Rolf.

Top easy fiction

• The Big Cheese / written by Jory John ; illustrated by Pete Oswald.
• The teeny-weeny unicorn / by Shawn Harris.
• Love from Bluey / text by Suzy Brumm.
• Bluey : daddy putdown.
• The pigeon has to go to school! / words and pictures by Mo Willems.
• Buffalo Fluffalo / written by Bess Kalb ; illustrated by Erin Kraan.
• If you give a dog a donut / written by Laura Numeroff ; illustrated by Felicia Bond.
• Creepy crayon! / Aaron Reynolds ; illustrated by Peter Brown.
• No cats in the library / Lauren Emmons.
• Penelope Rex and the problem with pets / Ryan T. Higgins.

Top juvenile fiction

• Dog Man. Vol. 12 : The scarlet shedder / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey.
• Cat kid comic club. Vol. 5 : Influencers / words, illustrations, and artwork by Dav Pilkey .
• Dog Man. Twenty thousand fleas under the sea / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey.
• Dog man. Mothering heights / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey.
• Dog man. Lord of the fleas / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey.
• Dog Man. Brawl of the wild / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey.
• Dog man. Grime and punishment / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey.
• Baby-sitters club. Vol. 15 : Claudia and the bad joke / a graphic novel by Arley Nopra.
• Baby-sitters Club. Vol. 7 : Boy-crazy Stacey / a graphic novel by Gale Galligan.

Are you looking for some creative inspiration this fall? Pioneerland Library System offers access to Creativebug, a website with thousands of award-winning art and craft video classes. This service is provided by Prairielands Library Exchange, an organization that exists to help support public and school libraries in southwestern Minnesota. We are excited that our library users can use their library cards to access these online classes taught by recognized design experts and artists.

You can find the link to Creativebug on the left bar of the Pioneerland website or the Cosmos Library website: www.cosmos.lib.mn.us.

Once you have entered your library card number, the site will prompt you to create an account. Through your account, you can keep track of where you left off in a class and which videos you have watched, and you can be notified of new classes on topics you’re interested in. You can even upload photos of your own projects to share, if you’d like.

Class topics include art and design, sewing, quilting, paper, knitting, crochet, food and home, jewelry, holiday and party, and kids.

One interesting feature the website offers is daily practice. Intended to be a way to challenge yourself to a month of making, the website offers 30-day prompts for daily art practice. There are over 60 daily practice series to choose from, such as hand stitching, watercolor and colored pencil, bookmaking, and rubber stamp carving.

Beyond the video classes, the Creativebug website also offers downloadable knitting and crochet patterns.

New classes are being added to the website all the time. Recent classes are titled “Embroidered Pencil Case,” “Love Letter Quilt Top,” and “Crochet Edges for Garments.” Upcoming classes include “Accordion Book as Art Form” and “Professional Illustration 101.”

If video classes aren’t your thing but you enjoy art or crafting, you can choose from a wide variety of books in the library to learn more. The Cosmos Library collection has many books on arts and crafts, including a wide range from whittling to origami and from painting to quilting.

Crafting and art have many benefits: they can reduce stress, improve mood, and reduce cognitive decline, as the activity brings you into a focused, almost meditative state. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced artist or crafter, the library can be a resource for your creativity.

Cosmos Library will offer curbside service indefinitely. Call the library at the number on the sign, 320-440-1012, if you’d like your materials brought outside. Have your library card number ready.

Library staff can hand your bag of library materials to you on the sidewalk or bring it to your vehicle parked in the parking lot behind the library. Let us know where you’d like us to bring it when you call.

Curbside service may be useful if you have mobility issues or a sleeping child in the car, or because of illness. Regardless of your reason, you are welcome to use the service!