by Kathy Roegge, MLS

Venture into an aardvark den, and master a mythical maze. Come face to face with a human-headed winged bull, and sit peacefully in a Japanese garden. These are just some of the adventures patrons can have with the Macy’s Museum Adventure Pass being launched this fall.
 
Beginning September 1st, public library card holders in the Metropolitan (MLS) http://www.mls.lib.il.us/, DuPage (DLS) http://www.dupagels.lib.il.us/ and North Suburban (NSLS) http://www.nsls.info/ Library Systems will have access to passes giving free admission to 17 exciting museums and other cultural institutions throughout the Chicago area. What a great way to celebrate Library Card Sign-up Month. But it gets better – the passes are available for the whole year!

This special opportunity is made possible by a generous contribution from Macy’s, in partnership with the three systems. Working with their media contacts they will provide additional publicity for the program.  Macy’s has sponsored similar programs in both Detroit Michigan http://www.detroitadventurepass.org/index.php and Minneapolis Minnesota http://www.melsa.org/museumadventurepass/.

The program objectives are:

• To excite kids & families about visiting all of the arts and cultural gems in their community.
• To educate kids and families on what their library has to offer them beyond books.
• To provide free access to families who are otherwise unable to afford attending museums/cultural organizations due to cost.
• To build awareness of this new program and the participating arts and cultural organizations in the community.

Patrons will need to visit their library to pick up a one week pass for the museum of their choice. Each museum is contributing four passes, which will be available on a first come, first serve basis. So many adventures await – some library patrons might never have expected! One hundred and forty-six public libraries from the three systems will be participating.

Each participating library will receive a publicity packet including bookmarks, brochures, posters and information about the museums.  A website is being developed to provide information about the program, participating museums, and a database libraries can use to print and check out the passes.  After the patrons have been verified by staff it will print the passes including an expiration date, information about the museum and a coupon from Macy’s. 

The 17 museums participating will provide a rich variety of experiences for library patrons.  Those participating include:

• Arlington Heights Historical Museum http://www.ahmuseum.org
• Bronzeville Museum, Chicago http://www.bronzevillechildrensmuseum.com
• Brookfield Zoo http://www.brookfieldzoo.org
• Cantigny Park, Wheaton http://www.cantignypark.com
• Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe http://www.chicago-botanic.org
• Cuneo Museum and Gardens, Vernon Hills http://www.cuneomuseum.org
• Elgin Public Museum http://www.elginpublicmuseum.org
• Frankfort Kidswork Museum
• Graue Mill & Museum, Oak Brook http://www.grauemill.org
• Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center, Chicago http://www.hellenicmuseum.org/index.php. 
• Kohl’s Children’s Museum, Glenview http://www.kohlchildrensmuseum.org
• Lake County Discovery Museum, Libertyville http://www.lcfpd.org/index.cfm  
• Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, Evanston http://www.mitchellmuseum.org
• Morton Arboretum, Lisle http://www.mortonarb.org
• Oriental Institute, Chicago http://oi.uchicago.edu/museum
• Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, Chicago http://www.spertus.edu
• St. Charles Heritage Center http://www.stcmuseum.org

Each museum is contributing free admission, free parking or other perks as part of the program.  A special launch event will be held on September 1st to celebrate the program and provide more information about participating museums to the library staff and the public. Details about this event will be forthcoming.

This program provides many opportunities for collaboration.  Libraries will have opportunities to create closer relationships with local cultural organizations and provide their patrons opportunities to visit these art and cultural institutions.  Local museums, zoos and other groups can expand their audience, and have new opportunities to promote their exhibits and events.  Libraries can develop companion events to be promoted along with the program.

Currently, the program website and print materials are being created, with training programs for librarians soon to follow.  Libraries will be able to train their staff for this program through programs at their local system offices, in select member libraries, and online. And, of course, stay tune for further details about the launch event on September 1st.

For more information contact Gretel Stock-Kupperman at stockg@mls.lib.il.us or Kathy Roegge at roeggek@mls.lib.il.us.  Program FAQ’s are available at http://www.mls.lib.il.us/consulting/pdf/MacyFAQ.pdf

Published June 17, 2009 in vol. 3, iss. 12 [View]