Local residents who have reserves at the Iowa City Public Library can now conveniently receive their order via a delivery system.

Locally owned food-delivery company CHOMP has expanded its services to include the option to deliver holds placed at the Public Library to the doorsteps of residents.

The library delivery service will start today, said Kara Logsten, the community-services coordinator for the library. Users will have to access the CHOMP website from their computers.

“At the library, we know that people feel like there is not a lot of parking downtown for the Iowa City Public Library,” Logsten said. “We were looking for a convenient way for people to use the library, so we asked CHOMP if it could deliver library materials.”

She said that once the library notifies that holds are ready for pickup, users can use their CHOMP accounts to schedule a delivery.

A text box will ask one of the titles of the materials ordered, along with first and last name, Logsten said. This will be used by the library to verify it is the right person and the right material.

CHOMP will charge a convenience fee of $1.49 in addition to delivery charges that start at $2.99.

Library materials will be delivered in Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, Hills, Tiffin, and University Heights.

With the new system, organizers say their biggest worry is people will schedule a CHOMP delivery soon after placing their holds, not giving the library enough time to notify them saying their holds are ready, she said. This is why they will ask users if they have received a message from the library saying their holds are ready for pickup.

“When Kara approached us, we were intrigued and happy,” CHOMP President Adam Weeks said. “I feel that it’s a great small expansion to what we do, which is delivery.”

CHOMP was started five months ago by local restaurant owners in Iowa City, and it has since expanded greatly. There are aproximately 100 restaurants in Iowa City that use it, and the service has employed 70 drivers.

Although CHOMP started with delivering food, it looks to expand and become a fixture in the Iowa City community, Weeks said.

“Everything we try to accomplish steers back to be a locally owned and operated service that competes with the big Grubhubs of the world,” he said.

CHOMP is on pace with its vision, he said. It has grown significantly since it started.

“It’s hard to enjoy your books vigorously … I suppose you can enjoy them vigorously, you’re just not going to eat them,” he joked.

Users can order their library holds from CHOMP’s website, and the service is being developed to add to its mobile application, said Taylor McBurney, the director of IT and logistics.