They weren’t fast or furious, but the remote-controlled cars that zoomed about the Wareham Free Library Saturday morning were piloted by overtly excitable drivers.

The event, which allowed participants to race remote-controlled cars in a contained space in the library, attracted several children. It was hosted by the library and put on by Cape Cod Collectibles, as a fundraiser for the cash-strapped literary institution. Cape Cod Collectibles owner Eric Guillory said some kids were so into the idea of racing the cars around the library that they even came to the Cranberry Highway store early to try them out, and then buy them.

“They bought a couple so they could bring a couple and then pay $10 to run them here,” Guillory said.

All proceeds from the event, including the money put in towards a raffle for a remote-controlled car worth around $100 – $200, went to the library. Reference services librarian Deb Rich said she was actually surprised at the age group that turned up for the event. Where she had been expecting teens and adults, she got mostly younger kids whose ages hadn’t even reached the double-digits.

The cars had the ability to go up to 45 miles per hour, Guillory said, but he ensured everyone put theirs in training mode, which limited their speed. And 45 miles per hour isn’t even that fast for modern remote-controlled cars: the fastest remote-controlled car, called the XO-1, can reach 110 miles per hour.

Guillory said remote-controlled cars became popular in the mid-1990s. Some adults even raced them commercially for money, a practice that continues today.

“They’d make the circuit, and make $120,000 on it,” Guillory said.

Rich and Guillory reminisced about their own childhoods, and remote-controlled cars. Rich said she remembered mechanical toy cars used to have wires attached to them, and users couldn’t pilot them very far away from themselves.

“It was all connected, and it wasn’t very much fun, because it didn’t go very far,” Rich said.

Guillory remembered his first car, a Bigfoot, from retailer Sears and Roebuck (known simply today as Sears).

“It was great, until I drove it off the roof, across the hood of my dad’s truck,” Guillory said.

Guillory said he plans to have a fundraising event for the library every month. Most will be held at the library itself, and will range from card game tournaments to outdoor monster car racing.

He said he also wants to organize a mini rocket launch with the Wareham Fire Department, as a fundraiser for the Onset Bandshell’s continual renovation.

“They have those silver hazmat suits, and, if we can get a fogger, they can walk through the fog to [the theme from] “A Space Odessy,” Guillory said.

The Wareham Free Library will hold a snowman building contest, starting Tuesday. Entries will be accepted whenever the library is open from Jan. 20 - Jan. 23. Snowmen may be made of anything but snow, and judging will take place Jan. 23, around 12 p.m.