College students stocked up on biology, chemistry and calculus textbooks while mystery lovers chose between 6,875 novels at the Friends of the Library book sale that started Saturday.
The sign "Welcome Bookworms" greeted customers into a 15,000-square-foot warehouse filled with stacks of books and other items.
The biannual sale offers more than 300,000 items, including classical literature, fiction and gardening books as well as CDs, VHS tapes, audiobooks and Playboy magazines. Most prices range from 25 cents to $3.
The book sale will continue today and Tuesday, from noon to 8 p.m., and Wednesday until 6 p.m.
On Tuesday, items will be half-price. Wednesday, the final day of the sale, will be 10-cent day.
Joan Curl, president of Friends of the Library, said organizers were worried that the turnout would be low because of the recession.
But their worries quickly disappeared when they saw a huge crowd lining up near the entrance of the warehouse on Saturday.
She said 711 people came in first eight minutes, but after that the exact number of customers was impossible to count.
The proceeds from the event go to the Alachua County Library District. But the event also funds numerous programs, such as Adult Literacy League Inc., and offers mini-grants to proposed projects.
More than $2 million was donated to the Alachua Library District, said Margaret Wagener, a volunteer at the book sale.
Curl said Friends of the Library collects books throughout the year from libraries, bookstores and Gainesville residents.
Liz Jones, volunteer chair of Friends of the Library, said some bookstores went out of business this year, donating their books, many of them in very good condition, to the sale.
In the Collector's Corner section prices ranged from less than $2 to about $200 for rare items, such as signed books, first editions of books, rare children's books, posters, Florida collections and maps. A poster signed by Tim Tebow was sold within hours.
Gainesville resident Benito Veron, 68, said he has attended the book sale for five years.
"You look at people here and you can see in their eyes how much they love books and reading," he said, standing by a carton box filled with books, audio cassettes and CDs.
