Pullman jumps in to rebuild Montessori School library

It’s hard to know what was lost until needing to look for what had always been a room away, said Beverley Wolff, after her school’s entire library was destroyed by a flood.

The Montessori School of Pullman suffered a great loss when a pipe broke while everyone was on winter vacation. More than 2,000 books were soaked and more than 100 toys were waterlogged. The school lost its entire collection of books, but over the past few months it’s rebuilt with help from the Palouse. Wolff, director of the school, said she wouldn’t expect anything less from the community.

“We had a great outpouring of support from the community,” Wolff said. “Everyone really came together not just from Pullman but from everywhere to help us. At first I was like, ‘Wow!’ But also I feel that we are a very caring community and are also very close-knit.”

Wolff said oftentimes when people experience a flood or some disaster, it happens over a holiday when no one is around to witness it. The Montessori, and the staff at the Gladish Community & Cultural Center where the school is located, were enjoying time off during the holidays when a pipe burst in the center.

Pipes that heat the bridge connecting the Gladish’s parking lot to the center had frozen over in December 2022, and after temperatures climbed above freezing a few days before Christmas the main thawed and cracked. The pipe runs through the Montessori’s storage room, where the excess water had pooled.

Wolff said when Gladish staff came back to work, four days had passed since the main cracked. Water had flooded the school’s storage room, down the hall and into the elevator shaft. It had made its way into the Montessori library, and Wolff added the water was up to her knees.

Everything in the library had been soiled. Only some books taken home by students, and a few in classrooms, were saved. Wolff said the timing was unfortunate, because teachers had moved extra materials into the library at the end of the semester.

“It was emotionally devastating,” said Jane Noppe, lead teacher at the Montessori, “It wasn’t just materials that we lost — staff had spent hours organizing the library. All that work’s gone, and there’s nothing we can do to get that back.”

Wolff added that books are an important resource when teaching children. All materials that would have been used for lessons when the semester resumed were lost.

Trevor Vance, marketing specialist at the Gladish, heard what had happened and made flyers for a book drive. Once the community learned about the flood, people were with the Montessori every step of the way.

Community members went to the Gladish with pickup trucks to haul the damaged materials away, said Wolff. And many local businesses, organizations and schools held book drives to restore the library’s collection.

Wolff said she was amazed by the community’s support. She was expecting the Pullman community to help, but was surprised when Moscow and Lewiston chipped in.

In the course of a few months, Wolff said the Montessori had received a little more than 1,000 books, as well as toys and puzzles.

Though the Montessori only has half of its original collection, Wolff said the school feels satisfied with what it has. She added the library now has a more diverse collection and it discovered more resources within the community.

The Neill Public Library lent books to the Montessori, and will continue to provide specific materials for the school’s students. Wolff said if teachers are instructing a niche lesson, they can request more specialized and diverse literature from the library.

Noppe said the flood made students more interested in reading. She said students noticed bookshelves in the classroom were empty, and started bringing books from home to fill them. When staff began to move new materials into another storage room, students were eager to look at the new library.

Wolff said the school moved its new collection back into the library after everything had dried out. She added the school is still taking donations, but is very happy with what it has.

“We got a lesson in how when something bad happens, the community can pull together,” Wolff said. “And if we all give a little bit we can repair the damage.”

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com