Pillsbury Free Library

Origins of The Pillsbury Free Library

Prior to the Pillsbury Free Library, Warner had no tax-supported library for people of all ages and classes. In 1841 there was a fee-supported "Farmers' and Mechanics' Library", and later, there was a small library of about 450 volumes at the Simonds' Free High School. In 1890, George Alfred Pillsbury, (of flour and baking fame) having accumulated enough money at the age of 75 to "meet all forseeable needs" for the rest of his wife's and his own lives, decided to do something beneficial for the Town of Warner, where he had lived from 1840 to 1852.

The Library opened in 1892 with about 4500 volumes, for the use of adults only.An addition was completed in 1994, tripling the area of the building. The Library now contains over 14,000 books, tapes, videos, newspapers and magazines. There is a very active children's room, a meeting room, computer-assisted book search service, and computers for public use.