The giant book sale at the Rome-Floyd County Library has started again and will continue throughout the coming week — including today and Friday even with the library closures on those days — in hopes of raising more than the $7,000 they raised last year to help the library during hard financial times.

Ruth Forrester, the co-president of the Friends of the Library with Karen Smith, said there’s more books on sale than they could possibly count, including 2,500 children’s books, available for sale throughout the week.

Forrester said on Saturday that they hope to raise as much money off of the sale this year to help with budget shortfalls in the library.

“We have a lot of variety and quality in our books this year,” Forrester said. “For instance, in the old and quaint section I found a small law book originally published in the 1800s but republished in the 1950s. It’s got a nice leather cover and it’s going to make a great present.”

Other items that Forrester suggested might make good presents — especially with the holidays right around the corner — can be found in the silent auction taking place during the sale. Some of the items included in this year’s silent auction include a 6-volume set of “The Scribner Music Library,” a watercolor print of the Berry College Ford Buildings by Christine Colley, “Charleston Gardens and the Legacy of Loutrell Briggs” by James R. Cothran and a Foote and Davies red leather-bound prescription record book for Floyd County. All bids in the silent auction must be in by Sept. 22.

Along with Forrester, volunteers and organizers like Maria Whitaker, Marilyn Hunt and Mickey Sachs-Smith were busy all week setting up for the book sale. Forrester and Hunt said they couldn’t have gotten all the books set up for the sale without the help of state prisoners, who were called in to help because of the Friends group’s connection with the library.

“They were a tremendous help,” said Hunt. “And it was great to see the positive side of people that are in prison. They were some of the nicest people.”

Today the sale will be open from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The final day will also feature a sale offering a bag full of books for $1.