Hunter Wilson/Daily NewsLisa Rice, director of Warren County Public Library, sorts books Wednesday at the Old L&N Depot. The annual Macy’s Used Book Sale will run Friday through Sunday.

More than 70,000 books and other materials will be up for grabs when the Macy’s Used Book Sale opens its doors Friday morning at the Old L&N Depot.

“I don’t think we have quite as many items as we did for the Friends (of the Library) sale, but we had less time to accumulate them,” said Lisa Rice, director of the Warren County Public Library. “But we have some really good things. A lot of new selections came in (Wednesday).”

The sale features hardback books of all types for $1, paperbacks for 50 cents and books on tape or CD for $2.

While perusing some of the titles on the fiction table Wednesday, a honey-do list fell out of a Patricia Cornwell book. It was actually a grocery list.

“We were going through the books yesterday and one of them was a book on witchcraft … and it had all these cute, little sticky notes all over it,” Rice said.

So people may be getting a little more than the books themselves when they make a purchase – some may have inscriptions as gifts or just the “property of” written in them.

But most people come to fill up their libraries or get some good books at a reasonable price.

“I think we brought in nearly ($15,000) last year, so we are hoping to top that this year,” Rice said. “Everything we make over $10,000 is considered good.”

Rice said in a tight economy it’s becoming harder to solicit financial donations. This way, the sale benefits both customers and the Southern Kentucky Book Fest. The festival, which is put on by Western Kentucky University Libraries, Warren County Public Library and Barnes & Noble Booksellers, helps pay for various literacy-related activities throughout the year in addition to the large book fest scheduled for April 17 at the Sloan Convention Center. The sale also benefits those programs.

Organization for the sale began Tuesday and will continue through today.

Jimmie Lou Johnson is a Macy’s employee who helped with the set up.

“We depend on the community to be successful, so anything we can do to help the community is a big deal,” Johnson said of Macy’s participation.

Johnson volunteers so she can scope out selections that will be available for purchase. She also has helped at the Friends of the Library sale.

“Plus, I don’t mind getting down in the floor,” she said, while pulling books from boxes on the floor.

The sale will be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, when it will be $1 bag day – customers get all the books they can stuff in a sale-provided bag for $1.