Destination: The Dollar Book Exchange

Drawing book lovers from across the region, the three-day sale features a giant selection - more than 100,000 used books - at incredibly low prices. Every book - paperback or hardback - is just $1 from the shelves. Huge rummage bins filled with children's books sit on the floor. From those, you can fill up a bag, which the sale provides and can fit as many as 70 books, and pay just $10.

It's become a favorite for readers, families, schools, students and day care centers. The sale offers all genres of books - including children's books (on the shelves and in those big bins); travel; self-help; religious; cookbooks; fiction; non-fiction; parenting; and textbooks for grade schoolers and up. The next sale is set for this Friday through Sunday.

The sale is the offshoot of an online book-selling business, which originally started in Siler City. Once it moved to Raleigh in 2014, the exchange has grown, said Diana Graham, managing partner, who joined the business officially about a month ago.

Bonnie's Book Foundation is named after Graham's late mother, who was a tutor and passionate about literacy. The group holds book drives and takes part in other efforts to encourage literacy at a young age.

Graham got involved with the sale as a shopper when she walked in and was amazed by the selection. She talked to the owner, Ford Perry, about her work. She began trading volunteer labor for book donations. They're working out the details, but Graham's work with the Dollar Book Exchange will lead to more book donations for kids who need something to read.

"We want to support literacy efforts," Graham tells me.

The sale is definitely designed for shoppers who love the hunt. Don't expect a cozy, climate-controlled book shop here where you can buy the latest bestsellers.

Instead, you'll find a cavernous warehouse, home also to Michael and Sons, off Atlantic Avenue in Raleigh. Books are shelved based on genre and very loosely alphabetized. In the fiction section, for instance, you'll find books written by authors with last names that start with P, Q or R mixed up together on the same shelf. On the children's book side, popular series such as Harry Potter, Goosebumps and Lemony Snicket are grouped together.

The large rummage bins, where you can fill a bag for $10, include lots of Scholastic picture books, Golden Books, early readers and even some toys and puzzles.

"You just never know what you might find," Graham said.

A big selection of textbooks, designed for grade schoolers and up, sits on pallets on the floor.

"This is definitely a browsers' paradise," Graham said. "A lot of people have a really good time ... if you don't mind the hunt."

If you go, Graham shares a few tips with shoppers:

"We do restock all during the weekend," said Graham, who said some shoppers come all three days.

This weekend's sale is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday. It's at 4001 Atlantic Ave. in Raleigh in the back of the Michael and Sons warehouse. The sale received a big shipment of Disney-themed activity books, which include crayons or watercolors. They'll be on sale for $1 each. The sale will donate one for each one purchased. (These would make great activities for upcoming summer road trips).