Free and discounted Museum Passes? Borrow them from your local library!

If you haven’t visited your local library lately, you may not realize what a tremendous wealth of resources they have to offer! In addition to many Children’s Room activities (crafts, story times and reading programs), they also offer library card holders to borrow free or discounted museum passes. With school vacation coming up, it’s a perfect time to check out what your local library has for passes and work in some museum fun!

Depending on where you live, your library may offer free or discounted passes to the following museums:

Boston Children’s Museum
New England Aquarium (Boston)
Museum of Fine Arts (Boston)
Museum of Science (Boston)
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston)
Sports Museum of Boston
Zoo New England (Franklin Park/Stone Zoo)
Peabody Essex Museum (Peabody, MA)
Historic New England (various locations)
Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston)
Currier Museum of Art (Manchester)
SEE Science Center (Manchester)
McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (Concord, NH)
Museum of NH History (Concord, NH)
American Independence Museum (Exeter)
Strawbery Banke (Portsmouth)
Prescott Park Arts Festival (Portsmouth)
Seacoast Science Center (Rye, NH)
Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (Dover)
New Hampshire Farm Museum
Wright Museum
The Children’s Museum of Portland
Portland Museum of Art
The Ogunquit Museum of Art
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (Boothbay)

To view a list of museum passes offered, visit these links to your local libraries. Don’t see your town listed here? Let us know where you live and we’ll include the link to your local library.

New Hampshire
Dover Public Library
Epping Public Library (Harvey Mitchell Memorial Library)
Exeter Public Library
Gafney Library (Wakefield, NH)
Lane Library (Hampton)
Nashua NH Public Library
Newmarket Public Library
North Hampton Public Library
Portsmouth Public Library
Rochester Public Library
Rollinsford Public Library
Seabrook Public Library
Somersworth Public Library
Weeks Public Library (Greenland)
Wiggin Library (Stratham)

Maine
Rice Library (Kittery)
Eliot Public Library (William Fogg)
York Public Library
(Note: The Berwick Libraries did not offer museum passes on their website. Please call for confirmation.)

Massachusetts
Salisbury Public Library
Newburyport Public Library

Note: Passes are limited and should be reserved in advance. Please call your local library to check availability.

Who says learning has to take a vacation, too? Enjoy these educational outings as a family, what fun!