A collection of about 25,000 hardback novels, paperbacks, children’s books, videos, CDs, magazines and more will be up for sale next week at the Dunwoody Library.

The Friends of the Dunwoody Library will host their first major book sale of the year starting Jan. 24. The group organizes about three large book sales a year, said Mike Morrisey, president of the organization.

“The biggest way we raise money [for the library] is by selling used books,” he said. “And we’ve gotten really, really good at it.”

The group expects to raise about $20,000 during the event, he added.

“Over the course of the year, we expect to raise about $75,000,” Morrisey said.

The money will go to help the library purchase new books and to support children’s and community programs at the branch.

“The Dunwoody Library is one of 22 branch libraries in DeKalb County,” Morrisey said. “They have some severe budget problems. Over the past couple of years, some libraries have had to reduce the number of hours that they are open, and the amount of money that they’ve had for buying new books and materials for the libraries has been cut drastically.”

The book sale will run for four days — Jan. 24, 25, 26 and 28. Most of the sale items will be priced 50 cents to $2. The last day of the sale is “bag day” where shoppers are invited to fill up a brown paper grocery bag for a flat cost of $6.

The book sale items will be on display in two rooms in the library and along the walls by the front entrance. Sorting and organizing the books takes a sizable volunteer effort, Morrisey said.

The organization takes in used book submissions throughout the year. Those contributions, plus old books the library no longer uses in circulation, become the items sold during the sale. Morrisey added before they put the books out for the sale, volunteers go through and make sure the items are in good enough shape and are new and interesting enough that someone will be likely to buy them.

If you go:
 What: Friends of the Dunwoody Library Book Sale
 Where: Dunwoody Library, 5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Road
 When: Jan. 24 from 4 to 8 p.m.; Jan. 25 and 26 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Jan. 28 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
 Contact: (770) 512-4640