A special area dedicated to The Beatles will be among the record-breaking half a million items on sale at Lifeline's annual book fair next weekend.
For months, volunteers have been preparing to host the event, sorting books and records, among other things, into about 20 categories, and then sub-sorting them into about 230 more.
Lifeline Canberra CEO Carrie-Ann Leeson said the sorting was done by ex-librarians, and the hall was "incredibly organised".
"Each section volunteer knows every book in their section, so you can walk up and ask about specific books," she said.
"They're incredibly engaged, it's very professional and all on the back of volunteers."
Ms Leeson said this year's book fair was double the size of any held before.
"It's the biggest one in history, it will break all the records," she said. The event is Lifeline Canberra's biggest fundraiser, and helps them keep the phone lines open for people in crisis.
Hundreds of people are set to stream through the doors when the doors opens at Exhibition Park on Friday at 9am.
This is when volunteers press themselves against the walls to let the hoards file in. They've done it enough times to know there's no getting between an avid reader and a bargain book sale.
South African-born Ms Leeson likened it to the wildebeest migration.
For Janice Redpath, a Lifeline volunteer for 40 years, she's fascinated to see what the first in the queue beeline for.
Ms Redpath is a primary sorter. The former teacher librarian volunteers at the warehouse four days a week, year-round.
"I also run the music section, dealing with CDs, sheet music and vinyl," said the former pianist and current choir singer. She said The Beatles display would feature sheet music, records and books.
"A lot of people don't realise we sell sheet music, but there is lots of it and it's wonderful value."
Ms Redpath said her workload has only increased over the years.
"When I first joined way back in 1977 we would work only for two or three months before the book fair because we'd only get about 5000 books. Now we get hundreds of thousands," she said.
Her tip for the event was to bring something to carry your books in.
For Chesley Engram, a volunteer of about 15 years, the Collector's Room was the area he was dedicated to serving.
Every year he expects the number of books or the interest from the community to dwindle, but the opposite seemed to occur.
"Everybody is using a Kindle, downloading books, but in the last five years our sales have gone up," Mr Engram said.
"People just like the feel of books."
The event will run from 9am to 6pm on Friday, 9am to 5pm to Saturday, and on Sunday from 10am to 4pm. Entry via the Coorong Pavilion at Exhibition Park in Canberra, Mitchell.