Little Free Puzzle Exchange of West Salem

07/03/2025

We have had some awesome puzzle donations coming in and lots of activity. Don’t forget the puzzle library is in its new location in front of The Lumberyard restaurant on the West Salem square. Grab yourself a puzzle to work on inside where it’s cool while it’s hot outside.

06/09/2025

NEW LOCATION!!! With the help of the wonderful people/family at The Lumberyard, the Puzzle Shack has a new, more visible location. It is located right in front of The Lumberyard restaurant on the West Salem square. As time has passed, wear and tear and weather caused most of our puzzles that remained to become damaged. The door now closes better and new puzzles have been added and are either in plastic boxes or in ziploc bags. We will keep working on adding more puzzles and getting more storage boxes to help prolong the life of all the puzzles for everyone to enjoy.

11/15/2024

Wow, life gets busy and time flies. Our little puzzle shack has now been in place for 4 years now. It is still located on the side of the building that is now The Village Cafe on the West Salem square. It gets used by many people. But as anything that sits outside in the weather, it has acquired quite a bit of wear and some leaking. With the kind help of Michael and Rose Payne, it will be getting some repairs done and revamped. And we have some more puzzles to stock in it. So if you see it missing, don’t worry, it will return shortly and ready for all to take or leave a puzzle to enjoy once again.

11/10/2021

Just wanted to share a great website that a couple in California created to form a community of free puzzle exchanges. It has a location finder of all the free puzzle exchanges that have popped up all over the US and Canada. I have joined and added West Salem, IL to the map with our Little Free Puzzle Exchange. If your traveling or have family and friends elsewhere, share this with them and they might have a puzzle exchange close to them to enjoy.

A community of free puzzle trading posts

11/09/2021

I’ve had a couple pieces fall out of a puzzle somewhere. Any pieces I find that I’m not sure where they belong are hanging inside a plastic bag inside the puzzle exchange door. If you find a puzzle that you put together and are missing a piece, see if what your missing is hanging inside the door and follow the directions and I’ll send you a $10 Casey’s gift card.

09/02/2021

Well, it’s been a busy summer but Fall is headed our way. I’ve had some generous donations of puzzles accumulating so I have restocked and swapped out puzzles of all sizes. Lots of color and lots of choices for the littles as well. Enjoy!!

12/24/2020

10/09/2020

It’s Fall stock up time! The Little Free Puzzle Exchange has seen lots of activity the last couple months. I am so excited so see it getting used a lot. To gear up for cooler weather, I’m on the lookout to add more puzzles to keep it full of great selections for everyone to enjoy. Currently, we are getting low on puzzles for our “littles” (100 piece or less puzzles). If you have any used or new puzzles you would like to add, just drop them by the puzzle library or let me know and I’ll arrange to get them. ~ Enjoy Life Piece by Piece~.

08/08/2020

Woohoo! There has been lots of activity in the Little Free Puzzle Exchange shack this week while I was gone on vacation. Lots of new ones and people are enjoying many that was in there from the beginning. I sorted and organized a bit this morning. Enjoy and have fun! Feel free to post pics of your finished projects on this page.

07/30/2020

07/30/2020

West Salem Friends (or anyone passing through) — My project is complete! West Salem now has a “Little Free Puzzle Exchange”!

A couple months in the works but it is now ready for the community. There is now a little puzzle exchange shack on the side of the West Salem Community Building (right across the road from Fenton Auction). It operates with the same idea as the Little Free Libraries for books in communities around the United States except this is one of the first puzzle libraries around that I know of.

It’s Simple!! The Little Free Puzzle Exchange is stocked with puzzles of all sizes for all ages. If you see one you would like to put together, take it home. Return it when your finished or leave a different one for someone else to enjoy. Just have fun! Puzzles are great to do on hot days, rainy days, cold days, snowy days, when your bored, to excercise your mind, to take on vacation, to spend time with family or friends, or to just enjoy on your own.

How did this come about? As you all know, the last few months have been a little trying for everyone. Staying home more and finding things to do is sometimes a challenge. I’ve always enjoyed puzzles and saw the idea from a lady in Maine that made a building in her yard for her neighborhood to exchange puzzles during quarantine. I found a picture of a garden tool building that was similar to what I wanted and my talented husband built this with all recycled materials from scratch to serve the purpose. A few decorations and the Little Free Puzzle Exchange is operational for you all to enjoy.

A page for the Little Free Puzzle Exchange of West Salem will be created soon that will have all the info, pictures, etc. Please share with me your suggestions, comments, or ideas.

But for now, please share this post and tell your friends to get the word out.