The 62nd annual Friends of the Library of Hawaii book sale kicks off this weekend at McKinley High School, and organizers are expecting turnout to be high as people look for a cheap, fun way to spend the day.

Opening day on Saturday will run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The event will end on June 28, with all books on sale that day for 50 cents.

"We expect a fabulous turnout," said Byrde Cestare, Friends of the Library of Hawai'i executive director. She said as many as 30,000 people are expected to come out for the sale, a summer tradition.

"With the economy the way it is, what a perfect way to get all your books for the year," Cestare said. She said the sale will offer more than 100,000 selections for all ages and interests. It will also feature a food vendor.

Some 300 volunteers worked to make the sale a reality this year, many spending months sorting through donated books and pricing them. Volunteers this week are loading the books into the cafeteria at McKinley for the sale.

To reduce costs, the Friends of the Library decided to keep the book sale in the cafeteria this year and forgo using a tent just outside for other books. The tent was used last year so more books could be put out for sale at once. "We're just going back to basics," Cestare said.

The book sale benefits the state's 51 public libraries.

Cestare said in addition to new fiction and nonfiction titles, there are plenty of interesting finds at the McKinley sale this year, including a leather-bound, 15-volume set of Ivan Turgenev works printed in 1903.

The set is valued as high as $3,000.

It hasn't yet been priced for the sale.