Woodstock library wants help solving 18,000-piece puzzle

The Woodstock Public Library is offering patrons and visitors of all ages a chance to work on – and possibly win – an 18,000-piece puzzle.

The library rolled out this year’s puzzle, titled “At the Water Hole” Jan. 6.

Once it’s finished, the puzzle will show a variety of animals, including elephants, giraffes and zebras. A portrait of the completed puzzle sits on an easel behind the building table.

The city’s public works department built the table, Austin Nord, the library’s adult programming director, said.

Last year was the first time the library offered people the chance to work on such a large puzzle. The library had gotten the donation of a massive puzzle from a local middle school, Nord said.

In announcing the challenge at the end of 2023, the library said that puzzle would cover 54 square feet once it was completed. The first run began Jan. 8, 2024, and finished on April 12, 2024.

Nord said he didn’t want people to be intimidated by the jigsaw. To try to make the puzzle more doable, the puzzle pieces have been sorted into buckets, Nord said. The pieces sit on a sorting table nearby.

Some of the categories the pieces are sorted into include colors like gray and yellow, while other buckets are for edge pieces or unsorted pieces.

Just over a week into the challenge, the edge piece bucket was sitting empty on the table, and one corner and some of the edge pieces had been laid out.

Anyone who helps to build the puzzle is eligible to participate in a raffle for a chance to win the puzzle. People can have one raffle entry per day and up to 10 total, according to the library’s Facebook page.

The puzzle will be raffled off April 12, the same day last year’s jigsaw was completed.

According to the Woodstock Library Facebook page, once a quarter of the puzzle is done, the the next quarter’s pieces will be set out.

It took 95 days for last year’s jigsaw to be completed, and Nord hopes that record will break this year.

All are welcome to stop by the library, 414 W. Judd Street, when it’s open to help work on the puzzle. Library hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.