Good afternoon! A few questions for those of you who have the honor system puzzle exchanges in your library: 1. Do you keep track of the puzzles going in and out? 2. Do you have them sign the puzzles in and out when they take one? 3. Do you just put the puzzles out and let it go from there? Any info or feedback is greatly appreciated! -- Mary Frantz, Service Librarian *Millington Arbela District Library*8530 Depot Street Millington, MI 48746 Phone (989) 871-2003 Fax (989) 871-5594
We do not keep track of them going in and out and we don't have patrons sign them in and out. We do ask if they notice missing pieces, that they let us know when they return them. Otherwise, they simply go back in the shelf! We have found that our puzzle lovers also donate more puzzles as well so "new" stock is not ever an issue! On Mon, Apr 27, 2026 at 12:26 PM Mary Frantz via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
Good afternoon!
A few questions for those of you who have the honor system puzzle exchanges in your library: 1. Do you keep track of the puzzles going in and out? 2. Do you have them sign the puzzles in and out when they take one? 3. Do you just put the puzzles out and let it go from there?
Any info or feedback is greatly appreciated!
-- Mary Frantz, Service Librarian
*Millington Arbela District Library*8530 Depot Street Millington, MI 48746 Phone (989) 871-2003 Fax (989) 871-5594 _______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
-- Victoria M. Shurly, Director Peninsula Community Library 2893 Island View Road Traverse City, MI 49686 231.223.7700 vshurly@tadl.org *"It is good to have an end to journey, but it is the journey that matters in the end." Ursula Le Guin*
Manchester does the same as Peninsula Community Library. K.Dimond On Mon, Apr 27, 2026 at 12:46 PM Vicki Shurly via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
We do not keep track of them going in and out and we don't have patrons sign them in and out. We do ask if they notice missing pieces, that they let us know when they return them. Otherwise, they simply go back in the shelf! We have found that our puzzle lovers also donate more puzzles as well so "new" stock is not ever an issue!
On Mon, Apr 27, 2026 at 12:26 PM Mary Frantz via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
Good afternoon!
A few questions for those of you who have the honor system puzzle exchanges in your library: 1. Do you keep track of the puzzles going in and out? 2. Do you have them sign the puzzles in and out when they take one? 3. Do you just put the puzzles out and let it go from there?
Any info or feedback is greatly appreciated!
-- Mary Frantz, Service Librarian
*Millington Arbela District Library*8530 Depot Street Millington, MI 48746 Phone (989) 871-2003 Fax (989) 871-5594 _______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
-- Victoria M. Shurly, Director Peninsula Community Library 2893 Island View Road Traverse City, MI 49686 231.223.7700
vshurly@tadl.org
*"It is good to have an end to journey, but it is the journey that matters in the end." Ursula Le Guin*
_______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
-- Kathleen Dimond - Director Manchester District Library 912 City Street Manchester, MI 48158 734.428.8045 kdimond@manchesterlibrary.info
Jonesville District Library does not require a library card to give/take puzzles - its open to anyone. We do not catalog or keep track of what is on the shelf. Of pieces are missing, we ask that they NOT return them. We do not use any library budget to purchase puzzles - all of our collection is donated. -Laura Orlowski, Library Director Jonesville District Library 517-849-9701 info@jonesvilledistrictlibrary.org On Mon, Apr 27, 2026 at 12:54 PM Kathleen Dimond via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
Manchester does the same as Peninsula Community Library.
K.Dimond
On Mon, Apr 27, 2026 at 12:46 PM Vicki Shurly via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
We do not keep track of them going in and out and we don't have patrons sign them in and out. We do ask if they notice missing pieces, that they let us know when they return them. Otherwise, they simply go back in the shelf! We have found that our puzzle lovers also donate more puzzles as well so "new" stock is not ever an issue!
On Mon, Apr 27, 2026 at 12:26 PM Mary Frantz via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
Good afternoon!
A few questions for those of you who have the honor system puzzle exchanges in your library: 1. Do you keep track of the puzzles going in and out? 2. Do you have them sign the puzzles in and out when they take one? 3. Do you just put the puzzles out and let it go from there?
Any info or feedback is greatly appreciated!
-- Mary Frantz, Service Librarian
*Millington Arbela District Library*8530 Depot Street Millington, MI 48746 Phone (989) 871-2003 Fax (989) 871-5594 _______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
-- Victoria M. Shurly, Director Peninsula Community Library 2893 Island View Road Traverse City, MI 49686 231.223.7700
vshurly@tadl.org
*"It is good to have an end to journey, but it is the journey that matters in the end." Ursula Le Guin*
_______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
-- Kathleen Dimond - Director Manchester District Library 912 City Street Manchester, MI 48158 734.428.8045 kdimond@manchesterlibrary.info _______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
We had a few puzzles sitting in an area that was not visible. I made a "Puzzle Exchange" sticker to put on them, moved them to a more visible location and added a sign. In a very short amount of time, they got VERY popular. I've actually had to move them to a new location to accommodate them. Not long after, someone moved a table near them to do a puzzle in the library. We embraced that idea and put a permanent larger table with a lamp right next to them. We have a couple that comes in regularly donate a large rotating puzzle board. There is almost always a puzzle going on and people will walk by and drop in a piece or sit for a few hours and work on it. We rely entirely on the honor system and ask anyone donating puzzles to turn them in to the front desk first so they can be inspected, labeled and put out. We do not accept any puzzles with missing pieces or that are old/smelly. Those go into recycling. We haven't noticed a loss of puzzle so if they aren't coming back, we don't know about it because so many have been donated. We don't have the manpower to check in/check out puzzles or to monitor if they have all the pieces. We rely on anyone borrowing them to let us know. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any more questions, Mary! *Cindy Persic* *Cataloger* *"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."* On Mon, Apr 27, 2026 at 12:26 PM Mary Frantz via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
Good afternoon!
A few questions for those of you who have the honor system puzzle exchanges in your library: 1. Do you keep track of the puzzles going in and out? 2. Do you have them sign the puzzles in and out when they take one? 3. Do you just put the puzzles out and let it go from there?
Any info or feedback is greatly appreciated!
-- Mary Frantz, Service Librarian
*Millington Arbela District Library*8530 Depot Street Millington, MI 48746 Phone (989) 871-2003 Fax (989) 871-5594 _______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
participants (5)
-
Cindy Persic -
Kathleen Dimond -
Laura Orlowski -
Mary Frantz -
Vicki Shurly