Anyone with a library card statewide can now “check out” free passes to three more Atlanta-area attractions: the Atlanta History Center, the Computer Museum of America and Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse.
Those groups and the Georgia Public Library Service announced their new partnership Thursday at the Buckhead branch of the Fulton County Library System — immediately after story time, so they spoke over a roomful of toddlers.
“If you’re wondering how these passes work, you go to the front desk of the library and you check them out just like a book,” said Dustin Landrum, director of strategic partnerships for the Georgia Public Library Service.
Patrons can use their library cards to check out up to six free admissions to the history center, four to the computer museum and four to Shakespeare Tavern, he said. The passes can be used for adults or children.
They are available at all 410 public library locations statewide, State Librarian Julie Walker said.
Library cardholders can check out the free passes as often as they like, so long as other patrons aren’t checking them out, Landrum said. One set of passes for each attraction will be available at every public library branch, he said.
Adult tickets to the Atlanta History Center, 130 W. Paces Ferry Road NW, Atlanta, are normally $24. Adult admission to the Computer Museum of America, 5000 Commerce Parkway, Roswell, is normally $15, and adult admission to Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse, 499 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta, normally costs $26 to $46.
“Eye opening” educational experiences should be available to all families, said Shatavia Elder, vice president of education for the Atlanta History Center. Like libraries, the history center has children’s story times, but also boasts a menagerie of sheep, goats, turkeys and other animals, she said.
The four-year-old computer museum, open Thursday through Sunday, displays many rare electronic devices from decades past, and offers “Tech Tales” story times during the summer, museum Executive Director Rena Youngblood said.
The Shakespeare Tavern offers a variety of programs year-round, and stages a different play every month, said Amanda Lindsey McDonald, actor and social media specialist for the playhouse.
The new partnerships are the latest of a dozen similar pass programs that already offered library patrons free admission to attractions such as Zoo Atlanta, the Center for Puppetry Arts and other educational and cultural institutions elsewhere in the state, Landrum said.
