After Pipe Burst, Peirce Fifth Graders Rally to Replace Hundreds of Library Books

When Peirce fifth grader Louisa Baldwin and her classmates went to the library Monday, it was still in disarray.

A weekend pipe burst had destroyed hundreds of books – 343 in all – and ceiling tiles were missing.

Louisa, an avid reader who said she loves The Sisters Grimm, Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Harry Potter books, said she and her classmates wanted to do something to help their librarian Jane Torregrossa, aka “Mrs. T,” and their school.

“This is our last year at Peirce,” she said Friday, “and we wanted the kids who come here after to have a nice library and school.”

Louisa and her friends – Megan Anderson, Eleanor Freed, Cora Gasche, Anyeliz Germosen and Cheryl Kohl – decided to start a book drive. They started by making posters during indoor recess (pictured above) – soon, their classmates jumped in to help.

As of Friday, the three milk bins the girls put outside the library to collect donated book were already full – three times over.

“It makes me feel very happy that I’m helping the library and so are my friends,” said Louisa, who has Heather Dooley and Maureen Montgomery as teachers. “Our teachers know about it and told us they’re proud, so that feels good too.”

The Bishop School has also donated $100 of its Book Rack credits to Peirce. Most of the water damage was limited to the library, although other areas of the school were affected.

How You Can Help

Donate books:

• Check the list of lost books and sign up to replace one or more of them.
• Donate age-appropriate books that are not on the list (if Mrs. T cannot use them, they can be brought to the Book Rack for credit).
• Books can be dropped off during school hours at the main entrance on Blossom Street (Thursdays and Fridays are the easiest days for Mrs. T to sort through donations). Peirce families can also place books in one of the donation boxes around the school.

Book Rack credits:

• Go to the Book Rack or call them at 781-646-2665 and buy a gift certificate for the Peirce Library or, if you have credits there, donate some of them to the Peirce Library account.

Monetary donation:

• Write a check, payable to Peirce PTO and indicating that it’s for the book fund, and send it to Peirce Elementary School, c/o Library: Mrs. T, 85 Park Ave. Ext., Arlington, MA 02474.