The Zoo Atlanta Library Pass Program, which since 2009 has allowed families of four to check out a pass at libraries to gain free admission to the zoo, will end at the end of this month.
In its place, Zoo Atlanta will launch a discount program June 1 for participants in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) administered by the Georgia Department of Human Services.
Guests with proof of SNAP benefits and a photo ID may receive daytime general admission tickets for $6 per person, plus tax, for up to six people per SNAP card with no blackout dates. Children under 3 are free. The discounted passes can be retrieved at the Zoo Atlanta Member Services Office. SNAP participants may also purchase a Zoo Atlanta Family Membership for $50.
The Zoo Atlanta library passes will be available at libraries until May 31. Zoo Atlanta will honor any vouchers already accessed through the program through June 30.
In 2023, the Zoo Atlanta Library Pass circulated more than 20,000 times, according to a Georgia Library Press release.
Rachel Davis, director of communications for Zoo Atlanta, said the move away from the pass was motivated by the need to serve a more targeted audience.
“The primary goal of Zoo Atlanta’s participation in the Library Pass was always to provide opportunities for communities who did not have the ability to otherwise visit the Zoo,” Davis said in an email. “The (library) program did not, however, give us the opportunity to specifically reach those communities most in need, nor a way of knowing whether we were reaching those communities or achieving that goal.”
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Atlantans were divided over the news on social media. By the afternoon of May 14, a May 9 Facebook post from the Georgia Public Library Services announcing the change had been shared more than 1,700 times and had close to 600 comments.
Some commenters questioned if the decision was connected to budget cuts to the Institute of Museums and Libraries (IMLS). Historically, the IMLS, through its Strategic Partnership program, has provided funds for the Zoo Atlanta Library Pass.
In March, the Trump administration issued an executive order aiming to eliminate the IMLS as part of broader federal budget cuts. While a temporary restraining order has been issued by U.S. District Courts to halt the dismantling of the IMLS, its long-term funding remains uncertain.
Davis told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the zoo’s program change wasn’t connected to budget cuts.
“The decision to phase out participation in the Library Pass did not have anything to do with funding cuts for IMLS,” she said in an email. “ … Offering these benefits to participants in SNAP will help us make the Zoo accessible directly to the communities we believe will most benefit from assistance.”
Georgia Public Libraries will still offer experience passes to other cultural destinations, including the Atlanta History Center, Mimms Museum of Art and Technology, Go Fish Education Center and Center for Puppetry Arts, among others.
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