By Jan Pease
It was my privilege
to meet with an enthusiastic group of Cosmos folks who make up the Building
Committee for the Cosmos Library. I’m
there as a representative from Pioneerland Library System, in place of Beth and
am happy to see this project get started. When the library opens, Beth Cronk, as Meeker
County Librarian will manage it, but I hope to be involved in developing the
children’s collection. The State of
Minnesota provided a grant, so this building project really will happen.
You might remember,
February 24, 2011, the Cosmos fire department was called at 5:11 a.m. to the
Cosmos library which burned to the ground.
This was a terrible loss to the Cosmos community. The library provided children’s programs,
books, audio books, movies, and internet access to the community and was a safe
place for teens to gather.
Pioneerland Library System has provided employees that bring
the summer reading experience for children to the former school building. Some summers the building has been unbearably
hot, but families come and take home
bags of books to read. This year, Elle
Puckett and Jennifer Barnes have worked together on this project.
The committee members did their best to inform me that
Cosmos is really the center of the universe.
I didn’t know that, but come to think of it, Cosmos is 20 minutes from
Hutchinson, 26 minutes from Litchfield, and 33 minutes from Willmar. It offers
an easy commute paired with a very nice small town.
The weekend of July
18-20 they will try to prove that Cosmos is indeed the center of the universe,
with the Cosmos Space Festival. Saturday
night the “best fireworks display in any small town” is planned. There is a parade on Sunday, with vendors in
the park. I’m going down for Sunday
afternoon, because Jennifer Barnes and
I will be at a table in the park. I also
plan to be there for the pork chop supper;
they told me that the pork chops are very, very good. 
In small towns, libraries are the heart beat of the
community. Yes, if your house is
burning, you need the fire department, not a book about fighting fires. But quality
of life is the issue. Families often
visit the Litchfield library if they are contemplating a move to our area. Having a vibrant library lets them know that
this is a vibrant community. I think
that having a library in Cosmos will show
that even if it isn’t the center of the universe, it is a great small town
community. If you’re at the Space
Festival on Sunday afternoon, stop by the Cosmos Library Table. We’ll be there.