FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

02-02-11 305PM

Looking for something fun, educational, and free to do with the family? Have guests coming into town and want to show off the area’s cultural highlights? The Contra Costa County Library announces Discover & Go, an exciting new service providing library cardholders with free passes to local museums and cultural institutions.

A first of its kind, Discover & Go provides access to passes that can be printed online rather than traditional physical passes that must be picked up and returned to the library. Each Discover & Go pass expires immediately after the reservation date – no returns are required and no overdue fines are charged. This unique program allows library users to make reservations online by date or by venue and immediately print out a pass or print later for free at any Library. Customers without Internet access can reserve a pass by telephone or in person.

Library cardholders can reserve up to two passes at one time from a growing list of destinations, including:

Asian Art Museum, Museum of the African Diaspora, Bay Area Discovery Museum, Museum of Craft and Folk Art, Beat Museum, Oakland Museum of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Pacific Pinball Museum, Blackhawk Museum, San Jose Museum of Art, Cartoon Art Museum, San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, Charles M. Schulz Museum, The Tech Museum, Contemporary Jewish Museum, Town Hall Theatre, Habitot Children's Museum, USS Hornet, Lawrence Hall of Science, Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, Lindsay Wildlife Museum, Zeum: San Francisco's Children's Museum, and The Marine Mammal Center.

Discover & Go is aligned with the Contra Costa County Library’s strategic initiatives, including reading and information for lifelong learning, and is a direct response to the Library’s Community Needs Assessment, in which parents identified their preferences for library programs that provide accessible low-cost cultural activities for families, tie in with the arts and support easy, independent exploration.

“With the Discover & Go program, patrons of Contra Costa County libraries now get free or reduced cost access to many of the Bay Area’s best museums and cultural attractions, thereby proving that libraries are portals to the world, said Lafayette City Council Member Don Tatzin. “The online convenience of Discover & Go distinguishes it from similar programs nationwide.”

Libraries and museums make great partners as they both seek to spark interest and propel people to explore, challenge, ask and engage in new concepts. According to Audrey Yamamoto, executive director at Zeum, San Francisco’s Children’s Museum, “Contra Costa County Library provides accessible programming and educational resources that are aligned with our mission to nurture the 3C’s of 21st century literacy – Creativity, Collaboration and Communication – in all youth and families.”

Exhibit-related recommended reading lists hand-selected by library staff will be available from the Discover & Go website at discover.ccclib.org.

The Contra Costa County Library serves residents countywide with 26 locations, three Library-a-Go-Go book dispensers, and online library services available 24/7 at www.ccclib.org. The library circulates almost 7 million items annually; more than 3 million virtual visits to the library website are made each year. The Library is considered a leader in technology and access to information. To learn more about Contra Costa County Library, visit www.ccclib.org or call 800-984-4636.

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