The state’s largest used-book sale will open today at 5 p.m. in Room 116 of Memorial Library, offering book lovers more than 15,000 hardcovers, softcovers and journals to choose from. The money raised from the used books will be used to purchase new books for the library system and to bring lecturers and research scholars to the University of Wisconsin.

Jim Dast, a retired librarian of 20 years from the UW library system and chief sorter and packer of the books, said the sale traditionally generates more than $20,000. Over the course of the past eight years of the semiannual sale, the used books have raised more than $270,000 in 16 sales. The Friends of the UW Libraries, of which Dast is on the Board of Directors, sponsors the book sale.

Don Johnson, head of Library Communications, said today’s “preview sale,” ending at 9 p.m., is when the choice material can be purchased and patrons are charged a $5 admission fee.

“There are still a lot of bargains to be had,” Johnson said, adding that the admission price is fair because the best books are found the first day.

Though Johnson said students are a high draw to the book sale, he said they are not the only book lovers to come to UW’s largest library.

“We seem to get people from all over the community,” Johnson said.

Johnson said in addition to appealing to faculty, undergraduates and graduate students who frequent the library on a daily basis, the book sale has a regional appeal stretching to Kansas, Oklahoma City and Iowa.

“A lot of bibliophiles in the Midwest come to Madison just for the book sale … It’s an event,” Johnson said.

Johnson said in the past, the book buyers arrived at Memorial Library early in the morning and soon the west wing of the main floor would fill up and eventually spill over onto Library Mall before the sale opened.

Johnson also pointed out that the books sold are mostly those books donated by students or faculty members and go through a rigorous screening process.

“We’re not likely to weed our library like public libraries are,” Johnson said, because the UW libraries are research libraries and normally need all the books they have. “As large as our libraries may be, our budgets are quite tight.”

Johnson also commented on the importance of the volunteers running the sale, who rack up more than 175 work-hours of volunteer service, in addition to two coordinators who log hundreds of hours a year.

Dast, who said he works about 400 hours a year on the used-book sales, said he enjoyed coming back to his old workplace once a week. Aside from getting to meet his old friends at Memorial Library, Dast said he enjoys handling the books and thinks sorting the thousands of books is “good exercise.”

The sale is open to the public and will run through Saturday afternoon.