Steven Noonan and his 6-year-old daughter, Ava, were scouring the aisles of the 58th Annual Friends of the Library of Hawai'i book sale at McKinley High School yesterday looking for bargains.

"It's become kind of a tradition for us," Noonan said. The Army sergeant has come to the sale every one of the eight years he has lived here.

Yesterday was half-off day, and by the looks of the morning crowd, people were eager to take advantage of the discount on already-discounted books.

About 3,100 boxes of more than 100,000 books were brought to McKinley High School cafeteria on July 9 to be sold at prices ranging from a dime to five bucks. Today, the price gets even cheaper. About 500 boxes of books are expected to be left, and they will be donated to the nonprofit group Wai'anae Coast for Better Education, said Byrde Cestare who helped organize the annual event.

The nonprofit group employs about 36 full-time volunteers throughout the year to price and sort books for the sale and could use as many as 100 volunteers on any given day during the sale.

"It's been a fabulous week. We've made a lot of money for the library system," said Cestare, who estimated that this year's sale will raise $125,000.

Proceeds from the sale go towards scholarships for students of library science, special library projects and the library's summer reading program.

Among the first books to go were art, religion, with Hawaiiana being the most popular of all. "I came on the first day and I made a mad dash for the Hawaiian books but there weren't anything left," Noonan said.

He returned yesterday in hopes of finding other treasures. "I'm looking for anything, and maybe some children's books for Ava," Noonan said as his daughter clung to two boxes full of books.

Maria Faehndrich, 54-year-old visitor from Stuttgart, Germany, was also on a return trip. "I came on the first day, but it was so busy," she said adding that she left only with two books written in German and one in English.

Lines on the first day curved around the cafeteria, a daunting sight for Faehndrich but she said, "It's a wonderful thing you have here."

After about an hour of searching yesterday, Faehndrich had found two more German novels and was intent on finding many, many more. "I just like to be around books," she said.

Today doors open at 9 a.m., but be warned that dozens of people will be waiting outside. Bring a box or a sturdy bag — at 50 cents a book it'll be hard to leave with just one, said Cestare.

Many books come from libraries when they purge their collection to make room for new ones, but most comes from private donations, said Cestare. "It's a sentimental thing when people give up their books," she said. She always assures donors that their books will be bought by people who will read and cherish them.

Alexis Pangilinan, 26, of Makiki, said she was driving by Mckinley High School and saw the sign. "I know the proceeds help the libraries, so it's like giving back to the community," she said.

Pangilinan was holding only four books in her hand but pointed to her son who was babysitting a box full of books near the doorway. "He just turned 9 today." She planned to buy him something other than books for his birthday.