Past president Alan McElroy, left, president Peter Dunn and past president Ross Wensley are ready for the Rotary Club of Invercargill's annual book sale at the Civic Theatre.

About 30,000 books, weighing six tonnes in total, will be on offer at the Rotary Club of Invercargill's annual book sale.

The Civic Theatre is again the venue for the sale, which will take place between Friday and Sunday.

Past president Alan McElroy expects a long queue of people waiting for the doors to open at 8am.

"Usually there's about 80 [people] charging through when the doors open," he said.

"At any one time, there's at least 30 or 40 [people] here."

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Between 3000 and 4000 people were likely to browse or buy books and money raised, expected to be $40,000 to $50,000, would be given to charities and needy people.

The most valuable book on offer - King of the Bluff: the life and times of Tuhawaiki (Bloody Jack), written by Fred Hall Jones - is yet to be priced.

"It's a real collector's item ... it could be worth up to $400," McElroy said.

Another sought after book will be The History of the Motor Trade in Southland, written by Jack Johnstone.

Service stations in Invercargill, Bluff, Riverton, Lorneville and Wallacetown had been collection centres, accepting donated books on behalf of the rotary club.

Members of the rotary club picked up the books from the service stations and stored them under the stage at the Civic Theatre before sorting them into topics.

Also being sold are DVDs, CDs and record albums. Books not sold will be sent to a recycling plant.