Important Message on State Library Resources & IA Shares Delivery
Dear Library Directors,
I’m writing to share an important message with you regarding some of the resources provided by the State Library, as well as upcoming changes to the IA Shares delivery service. I wanted to inform you as soon as possible since this will have an impact on your library and patrons.
Online Resource Contracts Not to be Renewed
This week I notified three online resource vendors that we would not be renewing their contracts this summer:
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Candid Foundation Directory: Research tool to find nonprofits and grants. This resource will end on June 30, 2025.
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OCLC FirstSearch: Subscription to an online collection of reference databases and articles. This resource will end on June 30, 2025.
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Brainfuse HelpNow: Homework help and live tutoring resource. This resource will end on July 15, 2025. (Note: the State Library receives a separate state appropriation from Iowa Workforce Development for a test prep resource; we are currently out for bid and will have more information to share on that contract soon.)
As I shared in my previous message on April 21, 2025 on the State Library’s federal funding priorities, we evaluated resources based on their cost, usage, and feedback from the past two years of surveys sent to public library directors and staff.
We will be adding notices on the appropriate State Library website pages and suggest you also include a note on your library’s online resources webpage to inform patrons of those resources being discontinued.
Changes to IA Shares Delivery Service
While IA Shares remains a top priority to sustain moving forward, the reality is that rising costs and budget uncertainty have made it economically unfeasible to continue with two days a week delivery. I’ve made the decision to reduce IA Shares to one day per week delivery. I know you highly value IA Shares and understand this is not ideal.
We have begun having conversations with our delivery service vendor to work out the logistics of this transition. At this point, no dates have been set, but we anticipate the change to occur this summer. Once we have more information to share, we will provide additional details on the exact timing and which of your current delivery days will be your new weekly delivery day.
While none of the above decisions were easy ones to make, I believe this will be in the best interest of Iowa libraries and the State Library in the long term. I appreciate your understanding during this time of change.
Sincerely,
Brenda Hall
Interim State Librarian
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