A New York City Library card does much more than letting you check out books. Did you know you get into over 30 cultural attractions for free?
By: Heather Newgen | Twitter: @hnvoluntourist
If you’re a New Yorker and don’t have New York City Library card, now is the time to get one. Besides having a access to unlimited books, cardholders can use the Culture Pass, which gives free admission to museums, public gardens and more.
Your New York City Library card offers endless adventures around the city at no cost. The Guggenheim, the Whitney and The Metropolitan Museum of Art are just some of the amazing institutions that have teamed with NYC libraries to create a program that gives more access to the city’s cultural sites.
Here’s how it works.
Log on to the Culture Pass website and sign up your library card number and pin to make reservations. It’s that easy. And some of the participating places even allow cardholders to bring guests!
But make sure to read the fine print. There are restrictions. According to the Culture Pass FAQs, you can only reserve one pass per cultural institution per year and you can only have two active reservations per library card. However, there’s so many places to explore in the city, so it’s not likely you’ll run out of fun free things to do.
Current institutions you gain free entry with your New York City Library are:
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Brooklyn Historical Society
Brooklyn Museum
Children’s Museum of Manhattan
Children’s Museum of the Arts
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
The Drawing Center
The Frick Collection
Historic Richmond Town
International Center of Photography
New York Transit Museum
New York Transit Museum
Noguchi Museum
Queens Historical Society
Queens Museum
Rubin Museum of Art
SculptureCenter
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
Society of Illustrators
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Sugar Hill Children’s Museum
Wave Hill
Whitney Museum of American Art
Keep in mind that passes for a given date may sell out, reservations can be made up to two months in advance and upon arrival, guests will have to show a printout or mobile version of their pass.
If you’d like to apply for a New York City Library card, you can do so here.