May brings crafts, games, and LEGO building to the Cosmos Library before the summer reading program begins the last week of the month.

Cosmos Library will host a Craft Circle on Saturday, May 3, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. This is a bring-your-own craft program for adults and teens ages 16+. Younger teens can attend with an adult. Bring your work in progress and enjoy the company of other creative people while you create. Examples of projects include knitting, crochet, drawing, papercrafting, and making jewelry. Since it will be held in the library, no messy crafts such as painting, please. No formal instruction will be provided. There’s no need to sign up.

The button maker will be back for the week before Memorial Day, May 19 to 24. This time it will be Super Mario buttons! This free activity is available anytime during library hours for ages 7 and up.

Pokémon continues at the library on Thursdays throughout May. Kids ages 7 and older are invited to play – or learn to play – Pokémon TCG from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. in the library every Thursday this month. The library has all of the cards needed to play the trading card game, but you can bring your own if you wish. No need to sign up. Free to attend. Parents and caregivers are welcome to stay with their kids, and will need to stay if their child is younger than age 8. Whether you love playing Pokémon or you would like to learn how to play, you are welcome to join this friendly learning environment.

Kids ages 5-18 are invited to build with LEGOs at Cosmos Creation Club on Monday, May 19, 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.

This summer, kids are invited to Level Up at Your Library – the theme of this year’s summer reading program! Play is one of the ways we learn to relate to others, to think in new ways, and to foster friendships. “Level Up at Your Library” is a summer reading program based around games and puzzles. Libraries are more than spaces for knowledge – they are spaces for fun!

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 a free book bag and pencil. When they turn in a completed reading sheet, they will earn “library loot,” play money that they can turn in for 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.

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 Memorial Day, May 26.