Sharon Nagasako and her friends do not exactly fit the image of a special interest.

The volunteers for Friends of the Aina Haina Public Library just want to hold the book sales that for a half-century have helped sustain their neighborhood library. But after learning that what they have been doing was illegal, and after getting no relief from the state librarian and the Friends of the Library of Hawaii, they turned to the state Legislature.

"We were totally shocked. We didn’t know what to think," Naga­sako said. "We were so worried because we have been always so careful about how we counted our money and deposited it and everything."

The dispute — known at the Legislature as Big Friends vs. Little Friends — has been among the most fascinating of the session. State Attorney General David Louie has been involved. Rep. Roy Takumi and Sen. Jill Tokuda, who oversee public libraries, have been besieged by panicked bookworms across the state.

In the hallways and along the railing at the Capitol, the volunteers from Aina Haina, in their first experience with the legislative process, have been as persistent as the lobbyists for hospitals and construction or the advocates for solar and filmmaking. "Those library ladies," as some call them, might even get a result.

The House and Senate might vote Tuesday on a bill that would allow the Friends of the Library — the Big Friends — their affiliates and independent nonprofits like the volunteers from Aina Haina — the Little Friends — to hold book sales and have concession stands on state library property and maintain their own financial accounts. Annual financial statements would have to be submitted to the state librarian.

"They stood behind what they believe, and they followed it through," said Rep. Mark Hashem (D, Hahaione Valley-Aina Haina). "And it’s really amazing for this small group of little old ladies — what they did was to literally change the system."

The Friends of the Library of Hawaii, founded in 1879, is the main nonprofit that raises money for the state’s 50 public libraries. The Big Friends have 35 affiliates and eventually want an affiliate at every library, with the affiliates following a standard set of guidelines.

The Friends of the Aina Haina Public Library, an independent nonprofit, declined to join the network.

"We said, ‘No, thank you,’" Naga­sako said.

Richard Burns, the state librarian, entered into a memorandum of understanding in 2010 that granted Big Friends and their affiliates exclusive rights to raise money on state library property, with the money going to individual branches. Burns told lawmakers that the agreement was meant to discourage multiple support groups for the same library, situations that have led to "acrimony, ill will and bitterness in the community."

Nagasako said the Aina Haina volunteers asked the state librarian for a similar agreement or a waiver that would allow them to continue their book sales, but were denied. Attorneys advised them that they had to change state law, so they approached Senate Minority Leader Sam Slom (R, Diamond Head-Hawaii Kai).

"It turned out that we found out more than we ever wanted to know about the state librarian and the Big Friends and their power grab," Slom said. "That’s basically what it was."

The biggest discovery was that what the state librarian, the Big Friends and their affiliates were doing was illegal.

The attorney general’s office determined that under state law all income from book sales on state library property should be deposited into the Hawaii State Library Foundation trust fund or the Big Friends trust fund, not kept by the affiliates for individual branches.

Byrde Cestare, executive director of the Friends of the Library, said she thought the dispute with the Aina Haina volunteers could have been handled without coming before the Legislature.

"Once it came here it just grew and it grew. And it was pretty shocking, actually," she said. "But once they started talking about protecting local money by putting it into a state special fund, that got everybody’s attention."

Hundreds of book enthusiasts from across the state started contacting lawmakers pleading with them not to force local book sale proceeds into a state special fund.

"You know what, it really isn’t Big Friends against Little Friends at all," Cestare said. "It’s about just clarifying how we operate on state property."

For Nagasako and the Aina Haina volunteers, the past few months have been like an extended civics lesson. They have experienced the full spectrum at the Capitol.

Their bill was passed by the Senate in early March. They showed up in late March for a 5:30 p.m. hearing before the House Finance Committee only to wait until about 11 p.m. for their bill to be heard. It was deferred indefinitely in early April.

Tokuda had rescued the language by inserting it into a separate bill that had already passed the House — a maneuver known as "gut and replace" — and it again cleared the Senate. The volunteers then sat through opaque conference committee talks until House and Senate negotiators agreed on a final draft Friday.

"They’re getting a crash course in the legislative process," said Tokuda (D, Kaneohe-Kailua). "It started off as a simple bill, but it turned into probably one of the most complex issues this session. We’ve had everyone from the attorney general himself down here."

In their conference committee report, Tokuda and Takumi acknowledge the passion and dedication of all of the book enthusiasts who shaped the end product — House Bill 1054 — writing that such advocacy "represents the legislative process at its finest."

"Scale of 1 to 10? It’s not a 10, obviously. It’s not a ceded lands settlement," said Takumi (D, Pearl City-Pacific Palisades). "But if you’re a dedicated volunteer at a local library in your community, and all you want to do is continue to raise money for your library, and you want to do it in a way obviously that complies with the law and complies with the requirement that the state wants to see how you spend your money, that’s all you want to do.

"And so the bill accomplishes that."

Like the best lobbyists, the volunteers from Aina Haina have found that no matter what anyone tells them or what they think they see happening, nothing is truly over at the Legislature until the final votes are cast and the session adjourns. Rep. Isaac Choy (D, Manoa), an accountant, said Sunday that he still has some tax-related concerns about the bill.

Nagasako and her friends plan to be in the House and Senate galleries Tuesday. "It’s been very rough, but I think we were very surprised and very happy that we’ve gotten a lot of support from the senators and some of the representatives. The opposition had, you know, said some things," she said. "What we would do is we would bring the MOU, we would bring the bill, we would bring the statute, and we would say to them, ‘This is what it is.’"