Popular Free Discovery Center Pass Program Renews Oct. 1
September 10, 2013 — Media: Discovery Center photos available. (Museum closed Sept. 23-27 for cleaning & maintenance).
Families can continue using their library cards to check out free passes to The Discovery Center of Springfield after Sept. 30. The program was due to expire Sept. 30, but a Musgrave Foundation grant to the Discovery Center will extend the program through September of 2014.
The grant pays for 20 reusable passes that families can check out just like a library book with a valid library card. Each pass admits up to four people – at least one adult and no more than three children age 3 and older. Families may use the pass as many times as they wish during the checkout period. Passes automatically expire upon the due date.
The program previously was funded through Springfield-Greene County Libraries with a grant from the Missouri Parent Information Resource Center, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Improvement and Innovation. That grant expires Sept. 30. It marked the first partnership of its kind between the library and the Discovery Center, and is patterned after similar projects in larger U.S. cities.
The goal is to help parents provide quality educational experiences for their children, said Youth Services Coordinator Nancee Dahms-Stinson.
Some changes in the program will take place Oct. 1:
- The Mobile Library, the library district’s bookmobile serving more than 18,000 individuals, will also have passes for checkout.
- Mobile Library passes will be good for seven days. Passes checked out from library branches will be good for five days.
The passes are available in most Springfield-Greene County libraries. Ask a librarian for details.