Museum Passes

Illinois Museum and Cultural Attraction Passes

 

Explore More Illinois is a free service provided for library cardholders that provides instant online access to free and discounted tickets to museums, science centers, sporting events, zoos, park districts, theatres, and other fun and local cultural venues. Many locations that are accepting passes are requiring visitors to register in advance to visit the location. Please verify the hours and other restrictions of the attraction before visiting the location.

Visit the Explore More site and log in with your library card and the same password you use the access our online catalog. Once you are logged in, you will see offers for the upcoming three months. Search for offers by date, attraction name, or location. Information about each attraction and the offer is available before making the reservation.

Make your reservation and print or download your pass shortly before your visit. You can have two active reservations per library card. Please cancel your reservation(s) if unable to attend, otherwise, the reservation will count as being used. Remember that once you print or download your pass you cannot cancel your reservation.

These are just a few of the participating attractions:

• Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum / Springfield
• Chicago Children’s Museum / Chicago
• Discovery Center Museum / Rockford
• DuSable Museum of African American History / Chicago
• Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park / Oak Park
• Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center / Skokie
• Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art / Evanston
• Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College / Chicago
• Museum of Science and Industry / Chicago
• The Viking Ship / Geneva
• Will County Historical Museum /Lockport

To get your free museum pass, visit the Park Ridge Public Library or check online. Quantities of passes are limited and given on a first-come, first-served basis during library hours.

Some important things to remember about your Museum Adventure Pass Program:

• Passes are valid for one week from the date they are checked out. If not used within one week, your pass will automatically expire.
• Each family may check out only one pass per week. A new pass may be checked out after seven days from when the first pass was issued.
• Due to limited supply, passes may only be checked out by Park Ridge Public Library cardholders. If your library card was issued by another library, call or visit your home library for more information on the Museum Adventure Pass Program.
• Different museums offer different privileges with your Museum Pass. Some offer free admission for one person, others free parking, and still others offer free admission for the whole family.
• Passes can be requested online 24 hours a day; however, they are only processed during regular library hours by Library staff, not an automated system.
• Passes are distributed in the order in which the requests are submitted, based on an email timestamp.
• Pass availability online does not update until the pass request has been processed by Library staff. It may appear that a pass is available when it is not if another patron requested it before you.
• In order to process a pass request, staff will verify the following:
  • Your Park Ridge Library card number
  • Your Library card is free of blocks
  • Your Library card is current/not expired.
  • You have no other passes currently checked out using that card number. (Limit is one pass per rolling 7 days per household.)

Once the card number is verified, the pass will be emailed to the email address entered. The email will come from Museum Adventure Support, support@librariesfirst.org. Please check your spam folder and allow emails from this address in order to receive your pass.

If the pass cannot be processed for any reason, you will receive an email from Library staff.

Visit the Children’s Service Desk or www.museumadventure.org for more details about the Museum Adventure Pass Program, including participating museums and attractions, as well as the MAP privileges and restrictions for each of them.