It's one of the few times at the Regent Theatre when there are more people on stage than there are in the audience.
The 31st Star Regent 24 Hour Book Sale brought an estimated 500 people through the doors in the first 15 minutes of the fundraising event.
While there was plenty of activity on the stage, where the books were stacked on tables, some simple etiquette meant there was very little drama.
"Be patient, no poaching other people's books and no slapping people on the hand," were the instructions which came over the loud-speaker system.
Book sale co-ordinator Alison Cunningham said there were about 200,000 books for sale this year - about 10% more than last year.
The quality of the books was 50% better because about 100 boxes of brand new books had been donated by a local book store, she said.
Books were sorted into categories including non-fiction, science, biographical, romance, crime and children's books.
There was even a table dedicated to rugby, but surprisingly few people were standing around it. Draw whatever conclusions you will from that.
"Even though the sale is being held at a different time of year because of the Rugby World Cup, it's become such a Dunedin institution that this year's sale will be just as successful as previous years," Mrs Cunningham said.
The sale is due to finish at noon today, but Mrs Cunningham said it was not too late to visit the sale this morning because there would still be a large number of excellent books available.
All proceeds from the sale would be used to fund future capital projects at the Regent Theatre, she said.
- ODTV Video by Craig Baxter.
