FARMINGTON - Hoisting boxes filled with used books and working quickly, Foster Tech students raced Thursday to empty a truck to help Literacy Volunteers prepare for the annual used book sale.

The book sale will again be held at the Elks Lodge in West Farmington from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Literacy Volunteer coordinator Joan Moes said.

While Moes indicated there were "thousands of books" to be moved, students from "Jobs for Maine Graduates" completed the unloading in just 15 minutes, meeting a challenge from teacher Cal Dorman.

After driving to Moes' house in North New Portland to load books, students stopped at the Adult Basic Education office on Main Street to load more books before unloading the lot at the lodge. A CJ Appliance truck was used to help move the books.

Jobs for Maine Graduate students have helped move books for the past several years, said Dorman. The program is geared toward developing employable skills for the students such as team work, civic and social awareness, he added.

The books will be organized before Saturday by category - fiction, sports, westerns and fast-moving cookbooks to help shoppers, Moes said.

With at least a 20-year history, the popular sale offers all donated books, she said.

"People clean out their shelves then come back to find more books to refill them. There's usually a line of people waiting to get in when I arrive at 8:30 Saturday morning," she added.

Profits from the fundraiser help train tutors to work with adults who lack reading skills and other Literacy Volunteer programs.

Sometimes volunteers work with children and they provide an abbreviated, teen-tutoring workshop to sixth-graders in Stratton who are then matched by the school to work with children in first grade and kindergarten, she said.

"It's a preventive measure against illiteracy. Some students need the extra one-on-one effort but then we don't have to worry about them becoming an adult who's ashamed because they can't read," she said.

Nearly 100 volunteers participate in Literacy Volunteers through the two counties, Franklin and Somerset, she said. Some volunteers tutor, but not all. Some serve as board members, some read in nursing homes, work on the book sale or help write grants, she added.

Another volunteer coordinator, like Moes, serves the Somerset area and Sue Fahn covers the Livermore Falls and Jay volunteers, she said.

"But, we always need tutors," she added, mentioning the next training workshop planned for Sept. 23, 27 and Oct. 9 in Farmington.

Book prices are $2 for a hardcover or six for $10; trade books 50 cents or three for a $1; and paperbacks at 25 cents or five for a $1. On Sunday, shoppers can fill a bag for just $2, she said.