Warrington Perambulating Library

Keen to increase borrowing from its library, the institute determined in the summer of that year to raise money for the purchase of a one-horse van, which it planned to fill with books and send each week "to every door in Warrington and the vicinity".

[2] The idea was taken up enthusiastically by local residents, who organised a flower show and bazaar to raise funds.

An October 1858 account in the Warrington Guardian reported that: Not only have many of our wealthy townsmen given their pounds, but women – some of them poor widows – have given their mites.

Two hundred working men's wives and daughters, at their homes, have stitched, darned or knitted articles for the Bazaar.

[2]The event raised £250 (equivalent to £32,000 in 2023[a]), allowing the perambulating library to begin touring the streets of Warrington on 15 November 1858.