Open Forum

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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There are a number of local libraries that purchase annual Membership as individuals or families would. For many of these libraries, their cardholders can take out the Parrish Members as any other item in library circulation.  Visitors show the library's Membership card for entry into the Parrish Art Museum, which means we know how many times the Membership is being utilized, but we do not collect additional data from visitors in order for us to track if it is unique visitors or repeat visitors, etc.  Our library Members determine the best Membership for them to purchase, which generally is in the $95-$125 range and includes two Membership cards and with the more expensive option, reciprocal Membership and guest passes.  We have been giving thought to creating a library-specific Membership in this same range, but shaking up some of the benefits and processes. 

I look forward to seeing how this thread unfolds.  Best of luck to you in your research!

Peace,
Ria

 

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Maria Fumai Dietrich
Membership and Individual Giving Manager
Parrish Art Museum
Water Mill NY
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-10-2017 08:24 AM
From: Michelle Mileham
Subject: Library Memberships

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!

------------------------------
Michelle Mileham, Ph.D.
Director of Education
Tracy Aviary
Salt Lake City UT
------------------------------

Chicago has a pretty extensive library program called Kids Museum Passport:

Kids Museum Passport

In partnership with Museums in the Park, we invite adult residents of Chicago to check out a Kids Museum Passport, which gives up to two adults and at least one child under 18 free admission to explore 15 of Chicago's world-class cultural institutions. Passports are available at all CPL locations.

Kids Museum Passports | FAQs

At Shedd Aquarium, we process this as a comp ticket.  Our software, Tessitura, allows you to set a reason code so that we can see how many of the comps we issue are part of the Kids Museum Passport program.  It's been a great way to make Shedd accessible to Chicago families.

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Heather McLaren
Asst. Director, Box Office Operations
John G. Shedd Aquarium
Chicago IL
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------Original Message------

Chicago has a pretty extensive library program called Kids Museum Passport:

Kids Museum Passport

In partnership with Museums in the Park, we invite adult residents of Chicago to check out a Kids Museum Passport, which gives up to two adults and at least one child under 18 free admission to explore 15 of Chicago's world-class cultural institutions. Passports are available at all CPL locations.

Kids Museum Passports | FAQs

At Shedd Aquarium, we process this as a comp ticket.  Our software, Tessitura, allows you to set a reason code so that we can see how many of the comps we issue are part of the Kids Museum Passport program.  It's been a great way to make Shedd accessible to Chicago families.

------------------------------
Heather McLaren
Asst. Director, Box Office Operations
John G. Shedd Aquarium
Chicago IL
------------------------------

​We offer a library pass at The Grounds For Sculpture. It costs the library $500.00 to purchase for the year. The pass allows for 4 people to come in with the pass and they receive  a 10% discount in our gift shop. We place a barcode on the pass and it is scanned when the guest arrives. This way we can see how often the pass is being used. We do not have any conversion rates, since we do not require any information from the patron using the pass.

The library handles how it is paid for and how they circulate the pass. Patrons typically loan it out for a period of time set by the individual libraries. We also charge a $50 reprint fee if the card is lost/not returned to the library.

At this time we have over 160 library pass memberships. Some libraries have more than one pass since it is very popular!

Hope this helps!

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KarenLee Parmelee
Membership Associate
Grounds for Sculpture
Hamilton NJ
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Instead of providing libraries with a membership, we designed a specific family pass that covers up to six people. I have attached images of our pass to give you an idea of our program. We have at least one of these passes in every public library statewide, so we didn't want too much crossover with our membership benefits. If you have more questions, I'm happy to talk about the program further! 

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Kathryn Stanton
Membership Program Coordinator
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Atlanta GA
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The Newark Museum offers a Library Pass program at the same price as our Family membership $80.00  The pass is valid for one year and entitles 2 adults and all children under 17 free admission to the Museum.  Museum Shop discount or discount on public programs are not included as part of our Museum Pass program.

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Shunzyu Haigler
Director of Membership Services
The Newark Museum
Newark NJ
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