Bring the kids to the Cosmos Public Library for trick-or-treating on Halloween! The library will be open until 5:00 p.m. We’ll have choices of food and non-food treats. We love to see the costumes!

Thank you to the organizations and businesses that donated to Cosmos Library’s summer reading program this year!  The businesses donated prizes that children and teens chose when they turned in completed reading sheets.  Thank you for supporting kids and reading in our community!

This summer was full of fun and games at the Cosmos Library. The summer reading program ended on Saturday, August 30, which was the last day to bring in summer reading sheets for prizes.

Thank you to the following businesses who donated prizes for the summer reading program:

Jimmy’s Pizza – Litchfield
Pizza Ranch – Hutchinson
Culver’s – Hutchinson
Litchfield Bowl
Casey’s
Papa Murphy’s – Hutchinson
Stockmen’s Greenhouse
DQ – Hutchinson
McDonald’s – Litchfield
Domino’s – Hutchinson

We couldn’t offer such great prizes without their support. Thank you for supporting kids and reading in Cosmos!

Pokémon Trading Card Game will continue at the Cosmos Library in September every Thursdays after school. Kids ages 7 to 18 are invited to come in and play or learn to play Pokémon between 4:00 and 5:30 p.m. – no need to be there the whole time. Kids under age 8 must be accompanied by an adult or teen caregiver. The library has cards to play with; players can also bring their own cards if they prefer. There’s no need to sign up, and it’s free to attend.

Craft Circle will continue every month through December. In September, it will be held on Saturday the 6^th, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. From October through December, it will be held on the 4^th Saturday of each month at that same time: 10/25, 11/22, and 12/27. 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, diamond dots, paper crafting, jewelry making, embroidery, and drawing.

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month! If you don’t have a library card, make it your month to get one. Your first library card is free, as a resident of our library system. Bring in your current photo ID, and we’ll give you an application form to fill out. You’ll get a library card on the spot. Have you moved and not yet updated your driver’s license? Bring along a piece of mail that’s been delivered to you at your current address, or a utility bill. Under 18? Bring your parent or legal guardian. A library card gives you access to many useful things for free!

Pioneerland libraries will be closed on Monday, September 1, for Labor Day. . The library’s hours are Mondays 10-5, Tuesdays 2-5, Thursdays 2-6, Fridays 2-5, and Saturdays 10-1. Find us in city hall, at www.cosmos.lib.mn.us, or at 320-440-1012.

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!

by Beth Cronk, Meeker County Librarian

Here are some useful facts about the library in a Frequently Asked Questions format. I hope you learn a little something you didn’t know before!

How much does it cost to get a library card?
A library card is free! It’s part of the public services available to you as a resident of Minnesota. Once you have a library card, it’s also free to check out anything in the library collection, both ebooks and physical items. If you had a library card and it’s lost, there is a $3 charge for a replacement card.

How many books are in the Cosmos Public Library?
The Cosmos Library has about 10,000 books. It also has about 1,500 DVDs and about 400 CDs.

What if I want to check out something that the Cosmos Library doesn’t have?
You can request things from other libraries in the Pioneerland Library System, which has a collection of about 620,000 physical items. If Pioneerland doesn’t have something, you can often request it from another library in Minnesota, using the MNLINK catalog. You can search both the Pioneerland and MNLINK catalogs online and request things yourself, or library staff can help you and place those requests.

Does it cost money to order things from other libraries?
No, the service is free to you as part of the interlibrary loan network in place in Minnesota. Our state is outstanding at providing access to library materials! Cosmos Library gets two deliveries of those interlibrary loan materials each week.

How long can I keep a book?
Most books are loaned for four weeks. Some bestsellers are limited to just two weeks while they’re new; you’ll recognize these by the sticker on the spine that says “14 day loan.”

How long can I keep a DVD I’ve checked out?
DVDs are now loaned for two weeks.

Can I check out magazines?

Yes, magazines can be checked out for two weeks.

A book I checked out had a due date coming up soon, but now I found out that it’s not really due for a few more weeks. What happened?

Automatic renewals! This is a brand-new service our library system is offering. If no one has a hold on an item that you have checked out, and you haven’t renewed it before, the library’s computer system will automatically renew it for you once, three days before its due date. If you are signed up for email updates about your account, you’ll be notified by email when those renewals happen and when you have items that will be due soon.

I’m late returning a library item. How much will I be charged?

There is a charge of ten cents per day for late items, although there is a three-day grace period before those start being charged. Materials for children and teens no longer have late fees. If your item is a month overdue, you’ll get a bill for the replacement of that item. If that happens, once you return the item the charge will drop to a $3 late fee (or to $0 for materials from the kids’ section). If an item is damaged or lost, talk to library staff about how you can resolve that charge.

Can I use my library card in other libraries?

Yes, you can. Your Pioneerland library card will work in all libraries in the system. Our system stretches from Graceville to Glencoe and from Canby to Dassel. If you want to use a different library system in Minnesota, you can do that, too. Bring your card to them, and they will help you register as a reciprocal borrower in their system.

If you have more questions, stop in or call the library, and we’ll be happy to answer them.