ANDOVER — Janet Farrington, the director of Andover public library, has decided to initiate a perpetual puzzle in the public library. A puzzle board has been set up with wheels for easy relocation, and will be in the library for community members to build and play with at their leisure.

The idea started when Farrington purchased a puzzle as a gift for her daughter. Interest in the puzzle led to her buying her own copy, and then suggesting to Wendy Hutchins, assistant director at Andover public library, that they have a puzzle in the library for people to do when they came in. A bit of planning later, and they had purchased a puzzle board, where the puzzle now sits.

The library itself is a former Universalist church. The church was disbanded back in 1990 and the building was gifted to the town to be used as a public library. The building retains its original beauty, and has been carefully renovated to maintain its original appearance. The church’s original chandelier still hangs as a light source, remodeled for electric lightning.

Farrington explained that during the renovation of the roof, when they took the measurements and sent them off to a roofing company, the company informed them that, according to their machine, this roof couldn’t be possible. But when the company sent their own people to do measurements, they came out exactly the same as the library staff’s. The roof was possible – but the computing machine couldn’t fathom it.

The interior wood of the library also has its own particular story. According to Farrington, each piece was sawed and donated by a local family. The wood panels themselves are brown and white ash, taken from a local stand.

Currently, the library’s plan is to use the puzzles as decoration as they are completed, placing them on the walls above the bookshelf for people to admire. They have several puzzles already purchased and ready, with varying numbers of pieces. The current puzzle is a 500-piece one. “We thought we’d start out easy,” said Farrington. While the current puzzle matches the season, other puzzles include more universally-time themes, including cats and, of course, bookshelves.