On Tuesday, April 30, MNLINK will change. You will still be able to request items from libraries across the state, but regular users will notice that the website is different. That’s because MNLINK is moving to a new software platform.

While it will look a bit different, under the hood the service is still the same. You’ll continue to use your library barcode and PIN to log in and make requests. However, please be aware that any requests made prior to the transition won’t appear on the new system when you log in. Rest assured that library staff will be working behind the scenes to fulfill those requests.

In preparation for the move, your MNLINK requests are temporarily limited to 10 items per card beginning March 25. Renewals to out of system items are also suspended at this time.  As with any software change, it’s likely there will be a few bumps in the road.  We’re doing all we can to help the process go smoothly, and appreciate your patience.

If you haven’t discovered MNLINK yet, this is a great time to start. All you need is your library card and PIN to access a wide array of collections beyond your local library.

Remember the song “Smokey the Bear”? Smokey is still around, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has given the library some materials for kids to do a little reading challenge related to the fire prevention bear. Kids of any age can stop in during the month of March to pick up a short reading challenge. There are fun stickers and bookmarks to go with it, too.

New books come in for the Cosmos Library collection all year long. Stop in to find new books for kids, including these newly-added titles:

Picture books:

Are You Big? by Mo Willems

Bear Finds Eggs by Karma Wilson

Buffalo Fluffalo by Bess Kalb

Cranky by Phuc Tran

Eyes That Weave the World’s Wonders by Joanna Ho with Liz Kleinrock

Grumpy Monkey Spring Fever by Suzanne Lang

I Am a Masterpiece! An Empowering Story About Inclusivity and Growing Up with Down Syndrome by Mia Armstrong

Just One More Sleep: All Good Things Come to Those Who Wait… and Wait… and Wait by Jamie Lee Curtis

Wildfire! By Ashley Wolff

Chapter book:

Slugfest by Gordon Korman

Cosmos Library offers a LEGO program for kids every month, typically on the third Monday from 2:00-3:00 p.m. This month, this will be on March 19. Kids ages 5-18 are welcome to attend. Children ages 5-7 need a parent or caregiver at least 12 years old to stay with them. There’s no need to sign up or bring anything; the program uses the library’s LEGO collection.

The Cosmos Library’s hours are Mondays 10-5, Tuesdays 2-5, Thursdays 2-6, Fridays 2-5, and Saturdays 10-1.

Here are the most checked-out titles in the Pioneerland Library System in 2023:

Adult Fiction

Storm watch / C.J. Box.

Dark angel / John Sandford.

Fox Creek / William Kent Krueger

Simply lies / David Baldacci.

Someone else’s shoes / Jojo Moyes.

3 days to live / James Patterson.

Heart bones / Colleen Hoover.

Identity / Nora Roberts.

The five-star weekend / Elin Hilderbrand.

I will find you / Harlan Coben.

 

Adult Nonfiction

Spare / Prince Harry.

Killers of the Flower Moon : the Osage murders and the birth of the FBI / David Grann.

Dear Jacob : a mother’s journey of hope / Patty Wetterling with Joy Baker.

Walk the blue line / James Patterson with Matt Eversmann with Chris Mooney.

The light we carry : overcoming in uncertain times / Michelle Obama.

The Wager : a tale of shipwreck, mutiny and murder / David Grann.

Friends, lovers, and the big terrible thing : a memoir / Matthew Perry.

I’m glad my mom died / Jennette McCurdy.

Atomic habits : tiny changes, remarkable results : an easy & proven way to build good habits & break bad ones / James Clear.

Never give up : a prairie family’s story / by Tom Brokaw.

 

Easy Fiction

The pigeon has to go to school! / words and pictures by Mo Willems.

The pigeon will ride the roller coaster! / words and pictures by Mo Willems.

Creepy crayon! / Aaron Reynolds ; illustrated by Peter Brown.

Sour Grape / Jory John ; illustrated by Pete Oswald.

Little Blue Truck makes a friend / Alice Schertle ; illustrated in the style of Jill McElmurry by John Joseph.

The duckling gets a cookie!? / words and picture by Mo Willems.

The smart cookie / written by Jory John ; illustrated by Pete Oswald.

Creepy pair of underwear! / words, Aaron Reynolds ; pictures, Peter Brown.

Itty-bitty kitty-corn / Shannon Hale & LeUyen Pham.

Should I share my ice cream? / by Mo Willems.

 

Juvenile Fiction

Dog Man. Vol. 11 : Twenty thousand fleas under the sea / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey.

Cat kid comic club. Vol. 4 : Collaborations / words, illustrations, and artwork by Dav Pilkey.

Dog man. Mothering heights / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey.

Dog man : grime and punishment / 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.

Diary of a wimpy kid : diper överlöde / by Jeff Kinney.

Cat Kid comic club. Vol. 2 : Perspectives / written, illustrated, and colored by Dav Pilkey.

Cat Kid comic club. Vol. 3 : On purpose / words, illustrations, and artwork by Dav Pilkey.

Dog Man unleashed / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey.

 

Young Adult Fiction

Bleach / story and art by Tite Kubo.

The ballad of songbirds and snakes / Suzanne Collins.

A court of thorns and roses / Sarah J. Maas.

One piece / story and art by Eiichiro Oda.

One of us is lying / Karen M. McManus.

A good girl’s guide to murder / Holly Jackson.

Attack on Titan / Hajime Isayama.

We’ll always have summer : a summer novel / Jenny Han.

The summer I turned pretty / Jenny Han.

Hunter x hunter / story & art by Yoshihiro Togashi.

 

Top Juvenile Nonfiction

Guts / Raina Telgemeier ; with color by Braden Lamb

Smile / Raina Telgemeier

Sisters / Raina Telgemeier ; with color by Braden Lamb

Lego awesome ideas / Daniel Lipkowitz

Minecraft. Guide to combat / written by Craig Jelley ; illustrations by Ryan Marsh

Minecraft : guide to survival / written by Thomas McBrien ; additional illustrations by Kate Bieriezjanczuk

Bomb : graphic novel : the race to build–and steal–the world’s most dangerous weapon / written by Steve Sheinkin

The big book of LEGO facts / written by Simon Hugo

Eyewitness shark / written by Miranda MacQuitty

National Geographic kids almanac 2023

 

Top DVD

A man called Otto

Top gun. Maverick

The Super Mario Bros. movie

Avatar: the way of water

80 for Brady

The whale

Paw patrol : the movie

Black Panther, Wakanda forever

Shazam! : fury of the gods

Where the crawdads sing

by Beth Cronk, Meeker County Librarian

The book was better! This is something people often say when they watch a movie or TV adaptation of a book. If you’d like to read the book before watching a movie or TV show that’s coming out this year – or after watching it – Cosmos Public Library has these books available:

The Other Black Girl is a thriller by Zakiya Dalila Harris that was published in 2021.  The TV show based on the novel is currently streaming on Hulu.

Lessons in Chemistry is a wildly-popular novel by Bonnie Garmus. The TV series is currently streaming on Apple TV+. The hype about this book hasn’t died down yet, even though it was published last year, so you may have to get on a waiting list to check it out.

All the Light We Cannot See won Anthony Doerr the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2015. The Netflix miniseries based on this historical novel will come out in November.

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2016. The Netflix documentary film will be released in November.

The Eye of the World is the first book in Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, a long-running fantasy series. The second season of The Wheel of Time TV series came out this fall to stream on Prime Video.

The Goosebumps horror series by R.L.  Stine has been a favorite of kids for decades. The Goosebumps TV series is currently available on Disney + and Hulu. Cosmos Library has several of these novels available to check out.

The Color Purple is a 1982 novel by Alice Walker that won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction. It was made into a movie in 1985. A stage musical based on the book and the movie opened on Broadway in 2005. Now a movie based on the musical will be coming to theaters on Christmas Day.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is the name of a six-book kids’ series by Rick Riordan. Disney + will be releasing a TV series by the same name in December. All five original books in this fun fantasy series from the early 2000s are available at the Cosmos Library.

Leave the World Behind is a thriller by Rumaan Alam. The movie based on the 2020 novel will get a limited release in theaters in November, then it will stream on Netflix in December.

Interlibrary loan service is available at no charge to borrow items from other libraries, so talk to library staff or check the catalog for books and DVDs you’d like to find but that aren’t available at the Cosmos Library.

The library will be closed on Saturday, November 11, for Veterans Day, and on Thursday, November 23, for Thanksgiving.

Cosmos Library’s regular hours are Mondays 10-5, Tuesdays 2-5, Thursdays 2-6, Fridays 2-5, and Saturdays 10-1. Visit the website at www.cosmos.lib.mn.us or the library’s Facebook page for library updates.

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.

We are very excited to announce that juvenile materials in Pioneerland Library System will no longer accrue late fees! This includes books, CDs, and DVDs with call numbers beginning with J, E, B, and YA.