Rose Boisen loves puzzles – so much so that she has started Nelson’s very own puzzle library.
She started off with around 100 of her own puzzles and now has close to 350 that she loans out for free during Sunday afternoon sessions at the Tāhunanui Community Hub.
“I’ve always been a puzzler… it’s come through the family. I remember being very young and my brother doing big puzzles on the floor,” Rose says.
“I find them relaxing… I particularly like doing big puzzles.”
As an adult she got involved with the New Zealand Jigsaw Puzzle Association, and when she saw other regions opening puzzle libraries, she got the idea to start one here.
It’s now been running for 18 months and the collection keeps growing, thanks to donations from the community.
“I had a fairly decent collection to start with, but the hub put the word out for donations. We have a variety of brands, shapes and sizes.”
She has regular borrowers and encourages people to come and loan a puzzle.
“I get around a dozen people pop in on a regular basis. There are two ladies that bike over from Richmond once per month.”
There is no strict time limit on how long you can keep the puzzle – it really depends on people’s pace and the time they have available.
“Some people borrow six per month, others two or three.”
She doesn’t ask for any payment, as she “wants them available to the whole community” and highlights the mental benefits of sitting down and pondering over a jigsaw, either alone or with a companion.
“My daughter and I will sit at the dining room table and do a puzzle while talking.”
Jigsaw puzzles also help to build dexterity while engaging the mind. They also support problem-solving ability, strengthen memory, and enhance attention to detail and hand-eye coordination.
Rose says she would love to get more people involved to help with the puzzle library. She also gets lots of enquiries about starting a library in Motueka, which she hopes to do one day.
And while most of the puzzles are for adults, she says she would love to grow her collection of children’s puzzles to loan out.
If you have any puzzles you would like to donate, you can drop them into the Tāhunanui Community Hub. For more information on session times and how to get involved, go to their Facebook page – ‘Nelson/Tasman Puzzle Library’.
