From 12:30-3:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, Eva K. Bowlby Library will be hosting a puzzle contest open to anyone in the community 15 years of age or older. With a three-hour time-constraint, competitors in teams of two will be expected to complete a 500-piece puzzle. If someone registers as an individual contestant, they will be paired with another individual.

“Winners are determined by a completed puzzle or by the amount of remaining pieces left if no one completes the puzzle. Each team will be putting the same exact puzzle
together, then each team will get to take that puzzle home,” said Megan Ealy, Bowlby Library’s youth services director and outreach facilitator. 

Informal staff supervision will be present at the contest to ensure all questions and concerns are addressed. Extra time will not be given for those who show up past the indicated starting time. 

“The first place team will get a 1,000 piece puzzle to take home and the second place team will receive a magnifying glass,” Ealy said.

Guests are welcome to come and support their favorite teams. The library, however, requests support to be given at a respectful tone so that others are not disturbed. 

“We have not had anything like this done at our library before, but have heard of it in other libraries and we think this will be a great fit for our programming,” Ealy said. “We are planning on offering this at least quarterly or twice a year depending on the turnout.” 

The staff of the library is excited to bring a new style of programming to the library and looks forward to expanding it in the future based on its initial success.

 “We plan to tie the event into our summer programming which has the theme ‘Imagine Your Story.’ Goals of this program are to get people into the library. The library has evolved in the last 20 years to more than books, “ Ealy said. “By offering this puzzle competition, it helps us also achieve a social literacy aspect, where people can socialize while sharing a common bond of creating puzzles.” 

The library staff is grateful for the continuous interest in their events and hopes to receive a decent turn out. If interested in participating, the entry deadline for the contest is Feb. 8. For more information, contact the Eva K. Bowlby Library at 724-627-9776.