Cosmos Creation Club

Kids, join us to build with LEGOs at the library! At Cosmos Creation Club, kids ages 5-18 can use the library’s LEGO collection. The program is held one Monday per month, 2:00-3:00 p.m. No need to sign up.

Children ages 5-7 must be accompanied by a teen or adult caregiver.

Dates are as follows:

January 27
February 24
March 17
April 21
May 19

February Library News

Cosmos Library News for February 2025

February at Cosmos Library starts off with some nature fun for all ages. On Saturday, February 1, a DNR naturalist from Sibley State Park will offer a nature table called Skin and Bones. The environment around us supports many animals that all have their own special tricks for survival. We can learn about some of those tricks – known as adaptations – by looking at the furs and bones of the animals. Stop by the naturalist table any time during the program hours, 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.,  to learn about our wildlife neighbors and what makes them unique. Activity takes about 10 minutes.

Kids ages 5-18 are invited to build with LEGOs at the Cosmos Creation Club on Monday, February 24, 2:00-3:00 p.m.  The program is delayed by a week due to the Presidents’ Day holiday. Children ages 5-7 must be accompanied by a teen or adult caregiver. There’s no need to sign up, and everything is provided.

The adult winter reading program, Winter Reads, continues all month. Sign up to get rewarded for reading three or six books by March 15. Read library books, your own books, audiobooks, ebooks, print books – whatever you choose. A variety of small prizes are available to choose from, while supplies last. Participation is free. Open to adults only.

The Cosmos Library will offer two take-home crafts this month: one for kids and one for adults. On February 4, kits will be available to kids to make dinosaur Valentine boxes. On February 18, pineapple string art kits will be available for adults. Free, but supplies are limited; one per person.

Pioneerland libraries will be closed on Monday, February 17, for Presidents’ Day.

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.

Top Checkouts of 2024

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.

Winter Reads

Adults, it’s time for your annual reading program! The kids get the summer reading program, and the adults get Winter Reads, Pioneerland Library System’s program that begins in January. Cosmos Library’s program this year will run Thursday, January 2, through Saturday, March 15.

January 2nd is the first day you can sign up for the program, but you can sign up anytime through early March. The advantage of signing up early is that, since you count the books you read after you have signed up, you have more time to complete it. The other advantage is that the prize choices are available while supplies last, so the earlier you turn in a reading log, the more choices you will have.

When you sign up, you’ll get a free book bag (while supplies last) and a reading log to keep track of the books you read. You can read fiction or nonfiction, old or new, library books or your own, print, e-books, or audiobooks – it’s all your choice!

Once you have read and rated three books, bring your reading log back to the library so that you can choose a small prize. If you read three more by March 15, bring it back in to choose an additional prize. The program can’t be repeated this year once completed.

Prize choices this year are mugs, book lights, can insulators, large candy bars, small notebook and pen sets, and potholders.

Cosmos Library News for January 2025

Adults, it’s time for your annual reading program! The kids get the summer reading program, and the adults get Winter Reads, Pioneerland Library System’s program that begins in January. Cosmos Library’s program this year will run Thursday, January 2, through Saturday, March 15.

January 2nd is the first day you can sign up for the program, but you can sign up anytime through early March. The advantage of signing up early is that you count the books you read after you have signed up, so you have more time to complete it. The other is that the prize choices are available while supplies last, so the earlier you turn in a reading log, the more choices you will have.

When you sign up, you’ll get a free book bag (while supplies last) and a reading log to keep track of the books you read. You can read fiction or nonfiction, old or new, library books or your own, print, e-books, or audiobooks – it’s all your choice!

Once you have read and rated three books, bring your reading log back to the library so that you can choose a small prize. If you read three more by March 15, bring it back in to choose an additional prize. The program can’t be repeated this year once completed.

Prize choices this year are mugs, book lights, can insulators, large candy bars, small notebook and pen sets, and potholders.

Kids ages 5-18 are invited to build with LEGOs at the Cosmos Creation Club on Monday, January 27, 2:00-3:00 p.m.  Children ages 5-7 must be accompanied by a teen or adult caregiver. There’s no need to sign up, and everything is provided.

Pokémon TCG won’t be held this month. We’re anticipating a restart of that program in the spring.

Cosmos Library will be open regular hours the week of New Year’s Day, since the holiday falls on Wednesday when the library is normally closed. The library will be closed on Monday, January 20, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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.

Thank You to Our Summer Reading Sponsors

Thank you to the businesses and organizations that contributed to this year’s summer reading program at the Cosmos Public Library: Read, Renew, Repeat! Thank you for supporting kids and reading in our community.

  • Stockmen’s Greenhouse & Garden Center
  • Litchfield Jimmy’s Pizza
  • Casey’s
  • Litchfield McDonald’s
  • Litchfield Pizza Hut
  • Ramsey Printing
  • Top Deck Gaming

Creativebug Craft Instruction Available Through Library

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.

Curbside Service

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!

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