A Library Card May Be the Key To Getting Free Admission to Your City’s Top Museums
There is a lot more to libraries than books
How do you provide a fun, entertaining, and maybe even educational summer to your kids home from school when inflation has reached levels we haven’t seen since 1981?
It’s not my imagination that our monthly budget has gone out of whack. Inflation in the U.S. rose 9.1% in June from the previous year. It’s the price of groceries and the cost of gas; even our energy bills are higher.
So when I see a way to save money these days, I jump on it. Did you know that many public libraries in the U.S. have programs that offer passes with heavily discounted or free museum admissions?
Chicago Public Library Kids Musuem Passport
I write about lifestyle topics in the Chicago area for NewsBreak, and I recently stumbled across the Chicago Public Library Kids Museum Passport. All you have to do to get the passport is to be a Chicago resident and have an active Chicago Public Library card.
For the Chicago pass, you will need a child under 18 in your group. The passes can be checked out at any Chicago library, and they will get you free general admission to 19 of Chicago’s most popular museums and attractions. These really are exceptional museums, such as the Field Museum, the Art Institute, Adler Planetarium, and the Shedd Aquarium.
It isn’t only Chicago libraries that have these types of savings programs. Many suburban libraries in the area have similar passes. The passes are usually limited and checked out on a first-come-first-served basis.
Other city libraries have museum discount passes
Some internet sleuthing showed me that beyond Chicago, other cities may have various free admission or heavily discounted passes to museums and cultural institutions.
And unlike Chicago, not every city is for families only, meaning you don’t necessarily need to have a child in your group to check out some of these passes.
Here are some of the cities I found that offer museum passes through their libraries:
This is just a small sample of libraries in the U.S. And don’t think it’s only big cities that have these programs. I discovered a small town library near where I grew up, Derby, Kansas, has a Discovery Pass, which gets you into some top attractions in the nearby larger city of Wichita.
If you want to take the kids to a cultural attraction in your city this summer, check out your local library. They may have a discounted or free pass you can use to save a little money.
Although, it’s not going to help you when it’s time to buy lunch and visit the gift shop.
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