Custom Made Puzzle, 2013-09-02

In the autumn of 2013, I took 18 months off work to study. As a going-away present, a colleague had a puzzle made for me. I work in a library, and the image is the return unit that sorts returned items into bins.

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Definitely unique! 1000 pieces.

004c

005

006
I had a bit of an accident on the way …
palapeli
The box.

Puzzling at Work

I work at the Helsinki University Library. A couple of years ago my boss at the time, who also enjoys puzzles (many, many librarians do) said I should bring a puzzle to work. So I did. More than one, in fact. There’s a round table in one of our break rooms, and most of the time, there’s a puzzle on it.

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A colleague working on a Heye cartoon puzzle (Wildlife by Mordillo).

Many colleagues started bringing in their own puzzles as well.

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Currently, we are working on a 1000 piece Educa puzzle showing part of Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights.

Before last Christmas, I decided to put a puzzle out for the customers as well. Just for the holidays. Well, it turned out to be so popular we couldn’t possibly stop 🙂 And the customers started bringing in their own puzzles as well.

 

When a puzzle is finished, the customers can break it up and bring the box to the service desk, where they get a new puzzle in exchange. A 1000-piece puzzle seldom takes more than a day, and there is almost always someone working on the puzzle.

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Puzzle shelf behind the service desk.

The library has had a lot of positive feedback about the puzzles, with one customer saying that the puzzle makes the library seem like a friendly and welcoming place.