IA Shares is a statewide delivery service program that provides twice-weekly delivery of library materials for all public libraries and the State Library. The full cost of IA Shares is paid for with a portion of federal funding the State Library receives from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The State Library contracts with STAT Courier to offer IA Shares, with MOBIUS providing management services and technical support for IA Shares.
With a system of hubs and routes, IA Shares facilitates quick and efficient delivery of library materials. Each route begins at the hub in the morning, where items out for delivery are picked up. The driver makes the stops along the route, dropping off a tote of materials for each library, and picking up another tote of items to be sent to other public libraries or the State Library.
The driver returns to the hub at the end of the route where the items are sorted and then transported between hubs each night. The process repeats each weekday for that day's designated routes. Each route serves between 15 and 25 libraries, and there are about 35 routes needed to accommodate all of Iowa's 543 public libraries.
IA Shares Bags & Totes Request Form
Use the form linked below to request additional IA Shares bags or totes to be sent to your library. The State Library sends them out via IA Shares on Monday and Wednesday mornings.
The below information is meant to serve as guidelines for how and what materials to send via the IA Shares delivery service for Iowa public libraries.
Note: IA Shares is now synced with the Iowa Academic Alliance and Rivershare networks. This means that regardless of which network you might be part of, once you put your library in the FROM field in the MOBIUS Labelmaker, you should be able to see all of the other Iowa libraries in the TO field and can select any of them to send to.
Contact Tom Keyser with any questions on the IA Shares Delivery Guidelines.
Each public library in Iowa receives an IA Shares delivery two days per week during a regularly scheduled time frame. The second delivery day occurs two business days after the first delivery:
For any days of service that fall on a holiday, a make-up day will be not be provided.
If the driver can’t make it to the library on the regular delivery day due to weather or other factors, they will contact the library and make every effort to make up that delivery stop within 48 hours, weather permitting. Should a route contain multiple cancelled deliveries, the entire route will be rescheduled at the discretion of Stat Courier.
If the library closes due to bad weather or other emergency, the library will need to email the Mobius Helpdesk and the situation will be handled on an individual basis.
IA Shares Email Listserve
MOBIUS maintains an email discussion list for IA Shares libraries that provides updates, route changes, and other information. For changes/updates to member emails, contact: courier@mobiusconsortium.org.
Find out more and sign up for the discussion list:
Place materials going to a single library in an official IA Shares bag.
Create delivery slip using the MOBIUS Label Maker. Print, trim, and insert slip into the clear window sleeve on each bag.
Place bag in an official IA Shares tote to be picked up at your library’s next scheduled delivery.
Do not use cardboard boxes, padded mailing envelopes, or handwritten labels to send materials via IA Shares.
Any library material that can fit in a tote or bag and is under 50 pounds can be sent to another Iowa public library via IA Shares.
No currency or checks are to be shipped and breakables are not recommended. No food, personal letters, non-library promotional items, propaganda, shelving, furniture, book racks, and no computer software or other electronic devices should be sent via the delivery service.
Oversize items can be sent via IA Shares if it falls under the 50-pound weight limit requirement and fits in an official IA Shares tote. To send an oversize item, place it in an IA Shares tote, close, and affix a delivery slip created with the MOBIUS Label Maker on top of the tote, covering it with clear packing tape. You can tape or zip tie the tote closed to indicate the entire tote is going to a specific location.
There is not a limit to the humber of items that libraries can send, as long as they fit in an approved bag or tote.
Both the lending and borrowing libraries are responsible for packing materials so that they are protected from damage, and in making sure all parts are included in a multi-part item. If an item is damaged in transit, follow these steps:
If the damage appears to have occurred while traveling through the IA Shares delivery system, a claim can be made to MOBIUS.
If the library item belongs to the receiving library, the receiving library can make a claim to MOBIUS.
If the library item does not belong to the receiving library, the receiving library should notify the owning library and send all the damage documentation to the owning library. The owning library can then make a claim to MOBIUS.
Instructions on how to make a claim to MOBIUS are linked below:
The State Library has received requests from authors, non-profit organizations, and other entities to handle distributing items to all Iowa public libraries. This costs the State Library money for the significant staff time involved in preparing the items for delivery. It also requires that the State Library has enough IA Shares bags and totes on hand to handle the delivery, which then takes those items out of the regular rotation for a period of time.
Currently, the State Library will only distribute materials to all Iowa public libraries via IA Shares if the materials are from the State Library or a vendor that the State Library contracts or partners with (such as promotional materials for online resources, Bridges, or other vendors, etc.).
Endorsement certificates will be sent via IA Shares or USPS, depending on amount and size of documents. Checks and letters from the State Library will continue to be sent via USPS.
All Iowa Reads Discussion Sets
All Iowa Reads book discussion group sets will also be sent to libraries via IA Shares, either by putting the plastic container of books in an IA Shares tote with a label taped to the top, or by taping an IA Shares label directly to the container of books.
SILO Interlibrary Loan
SILO ILL is the online system used to request interlibrary loans, while IA Shares is the delivery service used to move the items requested through SILO to and from public libraries around Iowa. SILO ILL does not integrate with the MOBIUS label printing program and is a separate step required in addition to reporting the ILL in SILO.
Enrich Iowa: ILL Reimbursement & Open Access
ILL Reimbursement through the Enrich Iowa program remains unchanged. All ILL returns to public libraries should be sent via IA Shares. Public libraries may still need to mail ILLs to requesting academic or special libraries.
It is strongly recommended that all Open Access returns to public libraries are sent via IA Shares. Returns to academic libraries will still need to be sent via USPS, and a postage receipt will be required for reimbursement.
In early 2025, the IA Shares delivery network merged with the Iowa Library Alliance and Rivershare delivery systems, also operated by MOBIUS and StatCourier.
The three systems will continue to operate as usual, but now users will be able to send materials to any destination in the three systems. Behind the scenes, material will leave one system and enter another to continue on to its destination.
IA Shares is comprised of the State Library and the public libraries of Iowa. The Iowa Library Alliance is comprised of 22 academic libraries and a few larger public libraries. Rivershare includes nine public and community college libraries centered on the Mississippi river around the Davenport area.
Additional details about the merger:
Public libraries will have more libraries to borrow from and loan to without incurring shipping costs. The MOBIUS Label Maker now includes destinations for the libraries in all three systems. A list of member libraries for each system is available on MOBIUS Iowa Courier - Delivery Schedule.
All destination libraries will need a shipping label generated by the MOBIUS Label Maker. The labels for the other systems will look a bit different from the IA Shares labels. If a library is in more than one delivery system, it is best to select the IA Shares label.
Libraries can now accept requests from and place requests with all of the included academic libraries through SILO ILL system. Some of the additional libraries are only available via OCLC. An Iowa academic library that is not a member of the Iowa Library Alliance or Rivershare delivery systems will still need materials to be requested through OCLC and sent via alternative means. Verify which libraries are included by searching the MOBIUS Label Maker or consulting the member list linked above.
The shipping bags that originate from the other systems will be a different color and have system-specific branding. It is best to set the other system bags aside to be used in returning the materials. If needed, it is perfectly fine to return material to the other networks using an IA Shares shipping bag.
Existing IA Shares guidelines still apply:
If the destination is in the MOBIUS Label Maker, you can send it there at no cost.
If it fits in an IA Shares bag or tote – it ships.
Any lost or damaged items that involve an IA Shares library, including materials from an Iowa Library Alliance or Rivershare member library, will be handled under IA Shares policies.
All other IA Shares policies and procedures still apply.
MOBIUS maintains an email discussion list for IA Shares libraries that provides updates, route changes, and other information. For changes/updates to member emails, contact: courier@mobiusconsortium.org.
Find out more and sign up for the discussion list:
Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services
This program or resource is made possible in part by the IMLS under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of Iowa.
