Hi Martin -
Tracy Aviary (located in Salt Lake City) has a wonderful partnership with city and county libraries. I reached out to them with a similar idea and was amazed to hear they have a program in place that we could just be added to, their Community Passport.
Library patrons are allowed to check out one per year and I believe it's only good for a month, but different cultural organizations are represented and can choose what they offer (2 free admissions, 4 free admissions, buy one get one, etc.). We don't make any money but see it suppporting our Outstanding Community Partner strategic goal and hope that families will come back in the future.
One piece we've struggled with is tracking how successful it's been, as the library tracks the passports and all guests have to do is show our front desk staff. I've talked to the library about changing the card so "tickets" could be torn out so we can track how many are redeemed but it hasn't been a priority yet.
We've also considered putting memberships in school libraries but haven't moved forward with that idea yet.
I hope that answers some of your questions!
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Michelle Mileham, Ph.D.
Director of Education
Tracy Aviary
Salt Lake City UT
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-09-2017 12:51 PM
From: Martin Fisher
Subject: Library Memberships
Science Central, a hands-on science center in Fort Wayne, Indiana is looking into the idea of offering 'Library Memberships.' The basic idea is that libraries hold the membership card, and they can be checked out by library patrons or members. We know this sort of program exists at other places, and we're trying to gather some more information on it. A few questions:
1. Do you offer Membership for Libraries?
2. What policies and/or limits do you maintain for them?
3. Who pays for the membership (from the library's own budget, grants you or the library would write, other)?
4. How much do you charge for your library membership?
5. Do you have any data on membership conversion rates? i.e., do any visitors/library patrons who use the Library Membership become members of your museum?
6. Do you have data on repeat visits? Do the same people tend to use the Library Membership multiple times?
7. Do you have a target audience/demographic for your Library Membership?
Thanks!
Martin
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Martin S. Fisher
Executive Director
Science Central
1950 North Clinton Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46805
Phone: (260) 424-2400 ext. 441
Cell: (260) 452-4047
Spark Your Imagination!