by Christina Stoll, MLS

Around 150 people attended the September 1st launch event for the Museum Adventure Pass program (http://www.museumadventure.org) sponsored by Macy’s in partnership with the DuPage, Metropolitan, and the North Suburban Library Systems, 153 of their member libraries and 17 Chicago suburban area museums and cultural organizations.

The kick-off event took place at the Brookfield Zoo along with other participating museums hosting tables for the visiting guests who were the staff from the participating libraries and their children.  The planning advisory team members made up of directors, youth services, and circulation staff from each of the three library systems were also invited, along with media sponsors Lite FM 93.9 and the Chicago Sun-times.  

Staff from participating libraries and their children visit the participating museum tables.

The program came to the surrounding Chicago suburbs after Jeannie Dilger-Hill, LaGrange Public Library Director (formerly an MLS Consultant) and Judy Hoffman Marketing/Communications Specialist for NSLS, attended a session at the 2008 PLA conference on the success of the Detroit and Minneapolis Museum Pass programs.  Judy and Jeannie came back full of excitement and a vision for a library-system wide program in the Chicago-land communities. 

“There are so many great museums and cultural organizations in the Chicago city and suburbs for local residents to experience. In these tight economic times it’s easy for parents to cut out extras like trips to a museum or the zoo, but it would be a shame for kids to miss out on the rich cultural and education opportunities they provide,” shared Jeannie of her original vision for the program.

The program supplies participating libraries with museum passes for check out on a first come first serve basis as passes are available by their local residents. The checkout is for a week loan, and each library has its own limited number of passes for each museum. The passes cannot be reserved or checked out online or on the phone. Admission offers vary per museum. For some, two or four people may be admitted free per pass, or by carload. If admission is free, another special discount will be offered. Complete details can be found at http://www.museumadventure.org/about_program.php.

After a year of hard work the September 1st event celebrated the official launch of the program with speeches from partnering organizations, followed by the opening of a super-sized book with the Museum Adventure Pass program logo inside, and the enjoyment of cake and networking between Museum and Library participants.

Brad Poterack, Alice Calabrese, Judy Hoffman, Pam Kramer, Dr. Strahl, and Gretel Stock-Kupperman hold open the ceremonial book officially launching the program followed by the cutting of cake to be enjoyed by all.

Dr. Stuart Strahl, President & CEO of the Chicago Zoological Society welcomed everyone to the zoo and the event.  He shared how being part of the pass program supported the zoo’s own mission of “giving back to the community while still remaining accessible and affordable.”  Dr. Strahl also stressed the shared goal of museums and libraries in promoting life-long learns for “kids who go to the library and museums grow up to be parents who bring their kids back to the library and museums”.

Dr. Stuart Strahl, President  & CEO of the Chicago Zoological Society

Brad Poterack, District Vice President of Macy’s spoke on behalf of his organization and as a resident whose own kids would benefit from the program, on his company’s gratitude for being part of a program that promoted the offerings of local libraries, access to local arts, and giving back to the community.

Brad Poterack, District Vice President of Macy

Alice Calabrese, MLS Executive Director commended this program as a great example of “how through collaboration between libraries and museums, can result in the fostering of strong connections between similar organizations and the communities they serve.  [It also] shows libraries as community centers with the resources in which to enrich their communities.”

The 17 participating museums and cultural organizations include:

Arlington Heights Historical Museum (http://www.ahmuseum.org)
Bronzeville Children's Museum (http://www.bronzevillechildrensmuseum.com)
Brookfield Zoo (http://www.czs.org/czs/Brookfield/Zoo-Home)
Cantigny Park (http://www.cantigny.org)
Chicago Botanic Garden (http://www.chicago-botanic.org)
Cuneo Museum and Gardens (http://www.cuneomuseum.org)
Elgin History Museum (http://www.elginhistory.org/museum.html)
Elgin Public Museum (http://www.elginpublicmuseum.org)

Sandy Brubaker, Executive Director of the 150 year old Graue Mill and Museum (http://www.grauemill.org), when asked what it meant for her museum to be part of the program commented that it was so “important to work in cooperation with similar organizes such as libraries and museums who share a combined mission of supporting literacy.”

National Hellenic Museum (http://www.nationalhellenicmuseum.org)
KidsWork Children's Museum (http://www.kidsworkchildrensmuseum.org)
Kohl Children's Museum (http://www.kohlchildrensmuseum.org)
Lake County Discovery Museum (http://www.lcfpd.org/discovery_museum)
Mitchell Museum of the American Indian (http://www.mitchellmuseum.org)
Morton Arboretum (http://www.mortonarb.org)

Jessica Caracci, Education Programs Associate for the Oriental Institute Museum (http://oi.uchicago.edu) is excited for her museum to take part in the program with the hopes that “more people will come to know about our existence and come see [the Oriental Institute Museum].  Their current exhibit includes scans of a mummy resulting in 3-D images and reconstructions of what she might have looked like.

The St. Charles Heritage Museum (http://www.stcmuseum.org) has facts about the area including that St. Charles was once the pickle capital of the world. Natalie Gacek, Educator for the museum shared her excitement for the program in that it provides the opportunity to “reach more people, who can come and learn about the history of St. Charles.”   

Museum Adventure Pass Program poster and Library and Museum participants at the launch celebration.

Sandy Whitmer Library Director at the Warrenville Public Library District and a member of the library system advisory team hoped that the program would help the library “to see new residents who come to the library to take part in the museum pass program and as result become new library card holders.”

Kate Pierson, Youth Service Director at the Glen Ellyn Public Library (http://www.gepl.org) found serving on the project advisory team a fascinating experience and gives much thanks to the library system staff for making the project work seamlessly.  Having her library participate in the program provides “another service our library can provide to residents, particularly in tough economic times”, added Kate.

As project lead for the program, Gretel Stock-Kupperman, Director of Consulting and CE for MLS is most proud “of the opportunity for collaboration this program provides libraries and museums.  It’s a great way for libraries to get new ideas, for museums to reach out, and for everyone to benefit.”

Check out the Museum Adventure Pass program web site for a listing of all participating public libraries at http://www.museumadventure.org.  If your local public library is on the list, you can check out available passes the next time you visit.

Questions about the Museum Adventure Pass program should be sent to http://www.museumadventure.org/contact_us.php.

Published August 9, 2009 in vol. 3, iss. 17 [View]