DKG Upsilon Chapter prepares for 39th annual Used Book Sale

Feb. 24—Frontier Mall is relatively empty on this Tuesday afternoon.

There's the usual mix of errand runners and walkers, listening to music while getting some late-morning exercise free from that day's punishing gusts of wind. Store clerks stand and wait for customers to tend to, and rather than the echoing voices of shoppers bouncing throughout the mall, some background music from overhead speakers fills the air.

Those that are in the mall do notice one thing out of the ordinary, though — a lot of shopping carts.

People pushing a lot of shopping carts back and forth down the length of the mall.

Carts full of books.

There is no bookstore in the mall, so it's natural to take interest in the mission behind these deliveries. Some passers-by cast glances or move to inspect a payload, but more stop to peek through the safety gate for each book's final location.

"The walkers have been checking us out every day," said Camelia El-Antably, pushing a full shopping cart, with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in tow.

El-Antably, more often seen as the co-owner of Clay Paper Scissors Art Gallery here in Cheyenne, is in her second year serving as book chair for the annual Delta Kappa Gamma Used Book Sale.

This year, she's splitting her duties with co-chair Patricia Hardin, who is absent at at the time of the WTE's visit, meaning the majority of this operation falls under El-Antably's supervision.

This also means El-Antably bore a good deal of the weight in regard to securing a location for this year's sale, after last year's vacant warehouse was no longer an option. The group searched over several months before striking a deal with Frontier Mall for some of its vacant storefronts.

"I think it will be great for the mall to have, because people will have to walk up and down the whole mall," El-Antably said. "I remember last time we had it (here), there were a lot of people who said, 'I don't remember the last time I came to the mall.'

"This is an opportunity for people to see the mall and get to know what's here. Hopefully, it will be good for them, as well as for us."

It's hard to believe, but even with the sale spread across six storefronts, the group is still operating with less space than it was granted in its 2022 location. It's not the most pressing problem, though, since they were left with far more books than they expected last year. Still, DKG is expecting around 140,000 books this year, and that's a bit of a tight squeeze.

The new setup, where different sections are located throughout the mall, has created more trouble in the book-sorting process. Though largely the same structure, it's become a more physical task to deliver books — especially when books are incorrectly categorized.

Each storefront in the mall contains a different genre, so when a piece of historical fiction is accidentally delivered on the other side of the mall, it's now someone's responsibility to walk it all the way back to the book sale's headquarters — the fiction section — in the storefront beside JAX Outdoor Gear, Farm and Ranch.

They even have a "mishmash" nonfiction room for books that didn't fit other categories.

"(This room has) all the arts, politics, business, psychology, reference and humor," El-Antably said. "One of the other rooms (were) very, very full. So we offloaded some things into here, because this room was not overwhelmed."

"Now, all of sudden, look," said Patrice Dennison, who's in charge of the "mishmash" room.

The women of DKG remain enthusiastic while sorting through a nearly overstocked children's section. Volunteers are experienced enough to know that the room will be almost entirely picked over by the event's conclusion. A section of puzzles and games will be decimated early on.

Some of the members have been a part of the national organization's local Upsilon Chapter since the early days of the sale. A select few were present 39 years ago, including Mary Hartman, who, at 10 years old, pitched the idea for the first book sale, then held across 20 tables in the newly built Frontier Mall.

"When I presented the idea, we had a lady in our group (say) to me, 'Mary, that's a nice idea. But what are we going to do next year for books?'" Hartman said, taking a break from her sorting in the historical nonfiction section. "Thirty-nine years — it's one of those comments that, no matter how many years goes by, I'll say, 'What are we going to do next year for books?'"

But every year, they manage to assemble the biggest book sale and charity event in the city.

Inevitably, the sections end up a little different each year, as well. Sometimes, the group receives an abundance of books about religion, while other years it's an assortment of gardening books or, like last year, a large section on knitting.

In 2023, it's the historical nonfiction section that already seems packed to the brim, specifically with history texts on World War II. They also received enough texts to added a Black History section to the room.

Standing among the piles of books, it's difficult to imagine that there was still roughly a week of donations coming at the time of the WTE's visit. A truckload of books arrived at the top of the hour, and more cars followed. El-Antably knows that there's usually an influx of donations as the deadline approaches on Sunday.

"We've had a lot of big pickups this year. We had one day (someone) brought in 130 boxes of books," El-Antably said.

The DKG Used Book Sale remains popular among residents for the fact that they charge $1 for paperbacks and $2 for hardcovers. Specialty section books have fluctuating prices, based on rarity and condition. This year, there will also be an auction that features signed books.

DKG has sweetened the deal by adding a second weekend to the sale. They'll continue to hold their bargain deal on both March 11 and 12, where customers pay $10 to fill a box with as many books as possible.

The main inconvenience with the mall location is that customers will have to pay for their books when leaving each individual storefront.

All of the money raised is returned to the community through donations to local organizations and individual scholarships for advanced education. Last year, more than $100,000 was donated to places like Laramie County Community College, Laramie County Library, Cheyenne Botanic Gardens Children's Village, Boys and Girls Club of Cheyenne and Raising Readers in Wyoming.

Any leftover books will be donated to local organizations. Groups interested in receiving books can call 307-631-6039 to make an appointment with DKG.

"This is amazing," longtime DKG member Ardath Junge said. "It's a win-win, because it gives people the opportunity to get rid of books that they've read, it gives the public the opportunity to buy inexpensive reading material, then all the money goes to educational projects throughout the state and throughout Laramie County.

"You can't lose on it."

Will Carpenter is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's Arts and Entertainment/Features Reporter. He can be reached by email at wcarpenter@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3135. Follow him on Twitter @will_carp_.