By Kathy L. Collins
If you enjoy visiting local museums and attractions and have a Hillsborough County library card, you can participate in the Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative’s Discovery Pass. This unique program allows library cardholders to check out a one-time admission to one of the library’s partner museums or attractions. Please note that the number of passes are limited and are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Participating museums and attractions include Big Cat Rescue, Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Glazer Children’s Museum, Henry B. Plant Museum, Stageworks Theatre Production, Straz Center for the Performing Arts (dark over the summer), Tampa Bay History Center, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa Theatre Balcony-To-Backstage and Ybor City Museum State Park. Black-out dates and restrictions may apply.
Each Discovery Pass provides one-time admission to one of the above during a seven day check out period. Passes may be reserved through the library’s catalog and checked out at the branch with the same library card used to request them. One Discovery Pass per adult library card may be checked out at a time, the check-out receipt serves as your admission or tour pass, and there is no need to return anything to the library.
Stacey Jurewicz, Community Engagement and Partnerships Manager explained why the program was implemented. Jurewicz said, “People love their libraries and the books, resources, events and classes they get to experience. We thought the Discovery Pass program was an opportunity to expand that experience from beyond our offerings to the greater cultural resources of Hillsborough County, broadening the horizons of all our residents.”
Laura Butler, a resident of Wimauma, recently used the Discovery Pass to attend the Tampa Bay History Center. Butler said, “I think this is an amazing idea. I gave the information to a friend, and we are planning on attending another attraction this summer.”
For more information, please visit www.hcplc.org/hcplc/services/discovery pass, call 273-3652 or visit your local branch.
