I was about 12 years old when the original groundbreaking PBS 13-part documentary series Cosmos: A Personal Journey debuted. My next older brother was deep into comic books, sci-fi, Star Wars, and Parliament Funkadelic. We only had two televisions in our five-bedroom house. One Sunday evening, my brother dominated the television as usual and I was forced to watch this creepy, nerdy guy talk about "billions and billions of stars". I found myself fascinated with how he took some of life’s and science’s greatest mysteries and explained them with ease. He put it all in terms that a normal person could understand.

As an adult with the increasing adult responsibilities of home making, parenting, career, and the workplace, I found that my sleeping was restless due to continuous thoughts about all of my responsibilities. I decided that if my brain was going to continue to work while I slept, I was going to teach it something. I went searching for something that could soothe my restless brain and educate me at the same time. I went perusing through the vast collection of audio books and then rediscovered the Cosmos series available in our Free Library collections.

I love going to sleep to Carl’s mellifluous tone backed up by one of the most amazing soundtracks, featuring the likes of Vivaldi, Stravinsky, and J.S. Bach. Shamefully, I fall asleep about 30 minutes into each hour-long episode, and if it is streaming, I will awaken in the morning with one of the last episodes in the series. I am rested and I think a bit smarter. I wanted to share this love with you today, November 9, Carl Sagan’s birthday!

Cosmos still holds the ever-growing record for the most watched PBS series of all time globally. I hope you will watch it… but don’t fall asleep!

For the entire month of November, Free Library staff will be embracing our so-called “guilty pleasures” without embarrassment! Join in and show us your pride for whatever you’re reading, watching, or listening to by snapping a photo with the hashtag #FLPNoShameNovember. We’ll feature your photos on our social media accounts and curate a list of the now-shameless titles!