MURRIETA -- Elvis fans, gun collectors and those who appreciate American authors all have something in common -- they can find books of interest at the Friends of the Murrieta Library book auction.

The seventh annual silent auction begins today and runs through April 8 with books on display in glass cases at the Murrieta Library. Proceeds from the auction will go to the library, auction organizer Maggie Pilotte said Thursday.

The Friends lends financial support to the library with fundraisers, Internet book sales and a retail bookstore, which is run by volunteers and sells donated books for 50 cents each.

Pilotte said 36 books are available for auction. Several of the books, including a set of six for children by Beatrix Potter, include multiple volumes, she said.

Last year the group raised about $900 via the auction, Pilotte said. She hopes to raise another $900 this year.

Library Director Loretta McKinney said Thursday it is up to the Friends to decide where the money should be used.

"We would discuss a variety of needs we have," McKinney said.

The city is building a $10 million library to replace the present library, currently housed in a former bank building at 39589 Los Alamos Road. City officials and library volunteers are trying to raise $1 million to pay for components of the new building, including a Heritage Room where artifacts of early Murrieta will be housed.

Concrete slabs for the future library are expected to be poured next month, McKinney said.

Books being auctioned include a signed copy of "Good Rockin' Tonight," a biography of Elvis Presley by friend and confidant Joe Esposito, a special edition of "Smith and Wesson Hand Guns," privately printed in 1997 for members of The Firearms Classics Library, and a first edition of "Deerslayer" by James Fenimore Cooper with pictures by American illustrator N.C. Wyeth, copyrighted in 1925.

Other books to be auctioned include a fifth edition of "Told by Uncle Remus, New Stories of the Old Plantation" by Joel Chandler Harris inscribed as a gift in 1911; an 1898 edition of "Songs of Hiawatha" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and an 1897 edition of the "Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns."

Pilotte said a bidding book will be available next to the display with details on the books and instructions on how to bid.

Another auction organizer, Pat Farmer, said the bidding can get intense.

"One year, my husband and I were bidding against each other for a Sherlock Holmes book" without realizing it, Farmer said, adding that now she also uses her last name when bidding.

For information, call the Friends of the Murrieta Library Bookstore at 677-5350.

Contact staff writer Laura Mitchell at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2621, or lmitchell@californian.com.

Fast Facts

WHAT: Friends of the Murrieta Library silent book auction

WHEN: Starts today and runs until April 8

WHERE: Murrieta Library, 39589 Los Alamos Road

INFO: 677-5350.