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Antelope Lending Library reports growing county-funded outreach: bookmobile, deliveries, snacks and car-seat work
Summary
The founder of Antelope Lending Library summarized 2024 service metrics and plans during a Johnson County Board of Supervisors meeting, thanking the county for funding delivery (ROAMS), a community liaison, and listing circulation and outreach statistics.
Cassandra Elton, founder and director of Antelope Lending Library, told the Johnson County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 12 that the nonprofit’s bookmobile and outreach services reached thousands of county residents in 2024 and that county funding has been essential to sustaining delivery services and a community liaison.
Elton said Antelope Lending Library operates a fees‑free, nonprofit bookmobile that visits the same Johnson County neighborhoods weekly from March through October, offers 90‑minute stops to build relationships with patrons and does not charge late or replacement fees. "Since 2012... we exist to meet people where they are and decrease as many barriers as possible to library access," Elton said.
She listed 2024 service totals the organization reported to the board: 5,248 patrons visited the bookmobile; the bookmobile circulated 2,348 materials on board; and the county-funded ROAMS delivery program provided 3,236 items to residents and child‑care centers. The organization also reported distributing 2,176 snacks through a summer partnership with Iowa City Community School District Nutrition Services (now supplemented spring–fall through private donations) and 446 hygiene items from a hygiene station started in June 2024.
Elton described other outreach work funded or supported in part by the county: a community liaison who helps patrons access local services; assistance delivering books and activity kits to households (30 activity kits per month); maintenance and stocking of roughly 30 Little Free Libraries; and seven “lobby libraries” inside local institutions, including the South District Marketplace, Open Heartland and the County Building. She also described a 2024 car‑seat initiative: after staff trained as certified child passenger safety technicians, Antelope partnered with Open Heartland to install 64 car seats during a single back‑to‑school event.
Elton noted that county funding supports the ROAMS delivery service to households and child‑care centers and allows the organization to run weekly stops in several locations (Breckenridge Estates, Western Hills Mobile Home Community, Regency Mobile Home Community and Hicap Waterfront Office). "This service is funded directly by the county and is made possible through your support," Elton said.
Board members thanked Elton and volunteers and expressed support for expanded outreach. Supervisors asked about expanding beyond the Iowa City/Coralville metro area; Elton said staff generally live in the Iowa City area and the library seeks partner organizations in outlying communities before adding stops.
Why it matters: Antelope Lending Library provides free, mobile library access and supplemental social services (snacks, hygiene items, car seats, referrals) to underserved neighborhoods; county funding underwrites deliveries and a community liaison position that extend services beyond book circulation.
What comes next: Elton said the organization is pursuing steady summer funding for June–August and exploring a car‑seat lending program. The library will add delivery to a new school starting in March.
