Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Warsaw Community Public Library Board of Trustees heard from staff about Experience Passes, a new item available to library patrons.
During a board meeting Monday, Erica Bennington and Jacob Shriner, WCPL Adult Services staffers, explained the passes to the board. The Experience Passes allow library patrons to visit museums, zoos, gardens and other educational and recreational attractions across Indiana at no cost. These passes provide free general admission to participating locations, which are:
• Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis
• Hall of Heroes Superhero Museum, Elkhart
• Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis
• Potawatomi Zoo, South Bend
• Science Central, Fort Wayne
• The History Museum, South Bend
• Wellfield Botanic Gardens, Elkhart
The passes are valid for general admission only and cannot be used for special events, exhibits, concessions or birthday parties. Patrons can make reservations for the passes online by visiting the WCPL website, going to the "Books, Movies, & More" tab, then clicking on "Experience Passes" under "Special Collections."
Shriner said the library was receiving a lot of requests from patrons for zoo passes, with Bennington presenting the Experience Passes idea to Shriner about a year ago.
"The library invests in year-long passes to museums, zoos, other cultural institutions," said Shriner. "We keep a pass like we would a book, and then we check it out to patrons so they can take entry passes ... and they can get into the institution for free. So, it eliminates a financial barrier for people to have educational or cultural experiences in our community. It's just a really cool program."
WCPL is partnering with Museum Key, an online reservation service that allows patrons to reserve a pass for the attraction and date of their choosing by using their library card number and PIN.
"We're really excited that patrons won't have to pay that out of their own pocket," said Bennington about the Experience Passes.
Bennington said she searched every library in the state that had an Experience Pass program to see what entities they were receiving passes from. Then, the WCPL Adult Services department contacted local destinations to see if they were interested.
Shriner said the big destination they really wanted was the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo but said the zoo isn't willing to participate at this point in time.
Experience Passes can be reserved up to six weeks in advance.
If patrons have a destination to suggest for the Experience Passes, they are asked to speak with staff in the adult services department.
In other business, WCPL Library Director Heather Barron said she will be attending the Kosciusko County Council meeting on Thursday to provide council with an update on the library's 2025 statistics.
The board was also told WCPL received a $10,000 gift from the Carnegie Corp. of New York as part of the Carnegie Libraries 250 celebration. The gift commemorates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
WCPL will also:
• Be closed on Thursday, March 12 for a staff development day.
• Host the "Americans and the Holocaust" exhibit from June 20 to July 24.
The board's next meeting is at 4 p.m. Monday, April 13.
