On Wednesday, Feb. 26, the State Library will be holding the second Great IA Shares Bag & Tote Count. Librarians are asked to count and report the number of filled and empty IA Shares bags and totes in their library to an online form that will become available that day.
The count is taking place in order to inventory the number of bags and totes currently in use and help estimate how many bags and totes have been decommissioned due to damage or normal wear and tear. Numbers will be used to determine how many new bags and totes should be ordered as replacements and to keep as backup inventory in the future.
How to Access the Form
The online form to report bag and tote numbers will be open starting Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 8:00 a.m. The link will be emailed to libraries and posted to the Library Talk forum.
If a library has a regular IA Shares delivery scheduled for Feb. 26, the count should be made before the pickup happens. The count will happen on a single day to reduce the likelihood of double counting bags and totes as they travel between libraries. If a library will not be open on count day, they can count and report bag and tote numbers on the day that they will be open closest to count day by email to Tom.Keyser@iowa.gov.
About IA Shares
IA Shares has been in operation since November 2019. Since the service launched, the number of IA Shares bags in use has tripled, and more than 150 totes have been added to transport the bags between libraries. In FY24, the statewide delivery service helped support more than 380,000 items sent between Iowa libraries via interlibrary loan transactions. Libraries also use the service to share materials, weeded books, and supplies with each other, saving the cost of postage and giving greater longevity to materials that may have otherwise been disposed of.
IA Shares is made possible by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of Iowa.
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