We are looking forward our way.

Hi, this is Brett.

The Columbus Metropolitan Library is world renowned.

It was named National Library of the year in 2010, seven time winner of the top five star rating from the Library Journal and received the National Medal from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

This year it was named the American Library Association's Library of the Future award.

The library is an incredible, incredible resource.

You've heard us talk about that over and over on this podcast for sure.

So if you haven't heard it here, you know elsewhere that it is.

And in 2025, the library has provided free access to nearly 20 cultural organizations, free of charge.

Today we're going to hear more about the library's Culture Pass program from the manager of circulation, Stephanie Burleigh.

Welcome to our show.

Hi.

Thank you for having me.

It's so nice to meet you, Stephanie.

We have talked a bit and emailed a lot and all three of us at this table have a great love of libraries, let alone a huge of the Columbus Metropolitan Library.

So shout out and kudos to all of your colleagues and the administration of the library for doing such a wonderful job and taking care of our community in ways that no one even realizes, you know.

And so thank you.

Thank you so much for your time today.

There is a lot of buzz on this Culture Pass program.

And just like, you know, I call it the Cultural Pass program too.

It's like it's something out of the old west or something.

But the Culture Pass program, everybody's talking about it, Brett's used it, my family members have utilized the program many times.

And we are going to give our audience more details on how they can find all of the great events and exhibits across central Ohio and get these free passes.

But before we do that, let's talk a little bit about you and tell us about your 20 plus year journey at the Libra.

Well, thank you so much, Carol and Brett for having me on your podcast.

You are right to give a big shout out to the library.

It is a wonderful pillar of our community and it is also a great place to work.

I have had many different jobs at the library.

I started as a page, which is basically a shelver, many, many years ago.

And when I had that job, I loved it.

I thought this is the best job ever.

I put all the books in order and it just looks fabulous.

Then kids come into the kids area and pull them all off the shelves and I get to do it all over again.

So that part was always inspiring for me.

And then I got a job in the Book processing department.

So putting all the spine labels and the book jackets on things, I thought, man, this is great.

This is the best job ever.

I have this huge pile of John Grisham books, and I'm going to put a jacket on them all.

So that part was fun, too.

And then on and on and on.

So I feel like I've had about six or seven of the best job evers at the library.

And the role that I had before moving to Main Library to be the manager of circulation was as the customer services manager of the Whetstone branch.

And the Whetstone branch, which is a very busy library.

Yes, shout out to Whetstone.

And it's a library that is busy because it is a hub for Clintonville in that part of our city.

And it is the heart of a very robust culture of readers.

I had so many amazing conversations with customers of all ages about different books.

So, anyway, long story short, I've had a lot of great jobs at the library, so manager of circulation at Main Library is my current favorite.

Wonderful.

You know what I always find interesting about the Columbus Library, and this may be true for metropolitan libraries all over the country, but Main Library has sort of its own flavor, and the branches have kind of their own flavor.

We just had really national recognition for a gentleman who passed away and left a list of the thousands of books that he read over his lifetime.

And that was based at the Whitehall Library, which Brett and I were familiar with because we used to support a nonprofit agency in the Whitehall area, which is also.

I would walk in that Whitehall Library, and it was packed with people, kids running everywhere.

And the.

The flavor of the buildings, all of the work that the library has done is really created community.

And I think that just carries on through all of the programs that it does.

Yeah, I think the library is maybe 10% books, 90% the people who are in there.

And that's where that sense of community comes from.

And we do.

Every library location has the regulars and the people who.

You know their name as soon as they walk in, you know what time of day they're liable to come in.

You notice when you haven't seen them for a while.

And I feel like, yeah, every location is a little bit different.

There is space for communities to make their branch special to them.

Well, and I have to say that our community members are very supportive of the library through the levy process.

And so thank you to everybody who made make sure that this incredible resource continues.

Yeah, 100% agree.

Wonderful.

I didn't realize this, but the culture pass program is seven years old.

I was going to guess maybe three or four.

I had no idea it was seven.

That's interesting.

And it's grown tremendously.

I mean, tell us how that program was conceived, and was there a model for the program at other libraries?

Yeah, when we started with the program back in 2018, there were other libraries around the country that had something similar.

Chicago, New York.

So there was a little bit of buzz around it and different staff within cml, including my predecessor, Wendy Van Sheets, at the main library.

And our marketing department just started looking around for how we could adopt something similar.

And.

We tried it out just very modestly, with two different culture partners.

The Franklin Park Conservatory had just recently, at that time, undergone some major renovations.

And they really wanted to give back to the community, like the surrounding community, who had hung in there with them during that time of construction and transition.

And.

And so they were onboarded as the first Culture Pass partner.

And their passes then and continuing to this day are available only at certain locations that are sort of right around their neighborhood.

It really is a sort of community benefit for people who are close by.

It doesn't mean you can't go from any part of town to one of those locations and borrow it, but.

But they do just want to give back to their really micro, local community in that way.

So then after that, we onboarded the Wexner center for the Arts, and some other organizations followed pretty quickly after that.

Then Covid happened, and so the program was on pause for a time and then restarted, and since then has really been growing.

Well, you actually went from really those two entities the first year to six the second year, providing nearly 2,000 passes.

By 2024, you had 16 locations and provided 21,000 passes.

So talk about growth.

Don't you wish everything would grow fast?

Were there steps that the library used to sort of entice all these agencies to come on board?

I think nothing succeeds like success.

So once word got out that there, the Culture Pass program was a thing, and our marketing department does a tremendous job promoting it.

So every time we would bring on a new Culture Pass partner, we would have a press release to publicize it.

We would put it on social media.

I am in charge of making sure all, you know, 500 public services staff know this Culture Pass is coming, so they can feel smart and answer questions about it and.

And talk it up to customers.

And so I think that's how the.

That sort of awareness for it built within our community.

And now we don't so much go out trying to get people to join Culture Pass as field calls from people who call in and say, hey, wonderful.

The Culture Pass program is a great program.

We are looking for a way to give back to our community.

And I am very proud to say the Columbus Metropolitan Library does not pay for any of the Culture Passes that we have to circulate to the community.

These are donated.

And when you think about the monetary benefit or savings to our community of circulating 21 passes, I'm not sure what the average cost for admission to the Dawes Arboretum or the Columbus Museum of Art.

But if you average that all out, that's really a great boost to people to be able to go and see all that without having to pay the admission.

And you mentioned the individuals at each branch that you work with with that information.

Let's give them a shout out.

No kidding.

Because they.

I've worked with, with that group through the main library for when we were doing workshops for older adults looking for jobs.

And those folks have to remember so much.

Yeah.

It is amazing.

And so, yeah, let's really thank them for.

For making sure that the Culture Pass program is out there.

Right.

Yeah.

Because it's not.

This is not easy.

No.

We're going to get into more of the details and the weeds here in a bit, but this is not easy for anyone to understand just off the top of their head, so.

True.

Yeah.

Of those organization, 20 organizations.

And they're not just theater or art organizations.

You have sports teams, outdoor venues and the zoo.

Is there a vision for which agencies you want included in the program?

I know you mentioned you calls in, but also you must have some mind like, boy, that'd be nice to have this category of.

A free pass to this.

That sort of thing.

I don't think that there's any sort of predetermined idea or a request possibly.

Yeah, yeah.

I do feel like we consider all of them equally.

I did have a request for a local pool to join.

So we were thinking about that.

I'm not sure what's going to happen with that, but.

It'S hard for me to think now of, you know, what is the one remaining cultural institution that I wish would join the asn.

There are so many just surprising ones that.

That sign up.

It's great.

You're right.

You look at that list and there's.

I would gather that it's very difficult for anyone to, out of 20 or 21 or whatever the list is, to not pick two or three that you can go to because of the breadth of.

Between sports arts that Sort of thing.

Yeah.

I mean, I was surprised to see the Clippers.

That's wonderful.

We do have other sports programs in town.

Maybe they'll get to the point of.

Also.

I wouldn't hold my breath on OSU football.

No.

Unless you get a really rich donor.

And maybe you don't want that either, though.

Well, all reasonable ideas are entertained.

But I will say the Clippers was one of our earliest partners.

I'm checking my sheet here.

We've been with the Clippers since 2022, so right after Covid, they were one of the first to come back.

And I think it helped that there's is an outdoor event that happens and the Sunday home game is a very forgiving format because they have bleacher seating and open seating.

It did take us a long time to figure out how to do culture passes for things where you need a certain seat in a theater on a day and a time, it's much different than going to the zoo or going to the Columbus Museum of Art, where you can just sort of go.

If you want to go to the symphony, you need to figure out where you're going to sit and what day you're going.

So there have been some adjustments for that.

But I am so proud that we have something for everybody.

Sports, music, everything from the Columbus Children's Theater, which has a certain kind of audience, to Shadow Box Live, which has a different kind of audience.

So I do think the breadth of what we have to offer is pretty awesome.

Wonderful.

So audience, don't forget, we will have all of the resources regarding the library and the Culture Pass program posted with this podcast.

So if you missed something here, we're going to make sure you have the links.

And we want to get into the weeds now because there are steps that you have to go through in order to get a pass.

The first is that you need a library card.

A Columbus library card.

So I had a couple of questions like who's eligible?

I don't live in Columbus, but I have a Columbus library card.

And.

How do they go about getting a card?

And the big question is to culture pass programs.

Do you have to be an adult to get that with your card?

The answer to the first question is that it is very quick, easy, and free.

To get a Columbus Metropolitan Library library card, you do not have to be a resident of Columbus or Franklin County.

You just have to be a resident of the state of Ohio.

So even if you lived in Cleveland, but you came to Columbus a lot for your work or something, you can get a library card.

For the Columbus Metropolitan Library, you can apply online@columbuslibrary.org and then you just need to bring your photo ID into any one of our locations.

And then we upgrade your account from someone who's applied to a full access account.

So that's how anyone can become a library card holder.

We do not limit the checkouts on the culture passes to only adult cards.

Kiddos who have a card could borrow a pass to the Columbus Children's Theater or the zoo, like with all of our library materials.

Open to all is the motto.

And it would be sort of the parent or caregiver's role to monitor if they wanted their kid to go to the art museum or whatever.

But we don't judge or restrict that.

If you are, you know, 15 years old and you want to come and get a Clippers pass and go see some baseball, you are welcome to borrow that.

You do need a library card.

We have barcodes that are associated with all of the passes.

So we check it out to you the same way we would a James Patterson book.

The difference is you don't have to bring the pass back like you do the James Patterson book.

You turn in that culture pass is like your ticket that you would turn in when you go to whatever you're going to.

That's good that you don't because it would be a, a nightmare for all.

Of you to figure it out.

But, but they, when they go to pick up a pass, they actually have to have their library card with them.

If you don't have your library card in hand, if you have your photo id, we can look it up.

Okay.

And so yeah, we, it's if you left it at home or you had the little keychain one and it fell off because it got worn out.

No worries.

We, we are more interested in making it accessible and helping you get it than we are in, you know, being persnickety or gatekeeping to try to not have you get it.

So can you walk through steps on finding what is available and how an individual can check it out?

We talked a little bit about that, but, you know, basically finding out what is available.

Whether it's online or a sheet to pick up or, you know, how that is, how that process actually maybe started and how it evolved too.

You know, the pain points.

Yeah, the easiest place to get information about what culture passes we have at any given time and what locations they are available, because you do have to go in person to the library branch that has the pass to get it.

The easiest way is to go to columbuslibrary.org that's our website.

And then the next thing you'll look under is events, and there's a link to the Culture Pass page.

And you can scroll down that list and see the sort of overview of all the different kinds that we have at any given time.

If you want the specifics, like where do I go to get Columbus Guitar Society, or whatever you're interested in, there's a link, it's called Check the Availability of our Culture Passes.

And that takes you to a page that looks just like what you'd see if you were looking for that James Patterson book.

And you would see, well, they have it at Whitehall, but they don't have it at Barnett or some other location.

So that's how you can sort of strategize and find out which place closest to you is going to have what you're looking for.

I like the idea that you physically have to go in and get it.

I think that you're going to take that extra step.

You're probably going to use it versus just going online and reserve, you know, and however that the pass, the electronic piece of it, you don't have to deal with that.

It's like literally going, here it is.

Boom.

I like that idea.

Yeah.

Yeah.

They all work differently, but most of them are like a physical.

It looks kind of like a ticket that you would go.

Some are a little different.

Shadow Box is a little different.

The Columbus Symphony, we.

We give you a pass that looks like a ticket, but what it has on there is a promo code.

And you go to the symphony's website and you just, like, if you were a paying customer, you log in, you see what seat you want, it will show you the ones that are available for Culture Pass, and you choose it.

And then when you check out, you put in that promo code and it rings up as free.

So that one, you do still get the confirmation on your phone, or you could print the email and take it.

So anyway, they're all different, right?

Well, and it addresses what you talked about earlier, too, of like, how do you offer seats available at a seated venue?

Let them take care of it.

They always have passes that they can work with seats.

I think that this kind of goes back to this notion of you really have to go in and put the time and effort into reading that list so you make sure you understand not just, oh, I can go to a Clippers game, but it's very specific, very specific dates.

And I mean, all of these organizations are giving us free seats.

They're giving the library free seats, and then to the patron.

People are probably saying, well, why is it so complicated?

It's really the organization's decision.

Is that correct?

Yes.

We allow them to set the parameters.

How many passes are you going to provide?

What locations do you want them to be located?

If it's something like the Columbus Museum of Art, once the person borrows the pass, how long do they have to use it?

So in other words, when does it expire?

Or the Dawes Arboretum, you borrow that pass, how long do you have to use it?

And so, because it is free, and because each institution works a little differently, there's no cookie cutter approach.

However, we can sort of shoehorn it in or make it work is how it has to be.

So it is.

A lot to remember.

Carol, you're absolutely right.

But our frontline staff at all of our locations are the secret sauce.

That's where the magic happens.

They see how happy people are when they come in and ask for that Clippers pass and get it.

Maybe they have their kiddos with them, and now this Sunday, they're going to the Clippers game.

So if you are looking at our website and you're a little unsure or you're not finding exactly what you want, you go into the location, those frontline staff will help you understand it.

If you're getting your Symphony pass and you don't know how to get it downloaded to your phone, our staff will help you hop on a computer and print out that confirmation QR code to take as your ticket.

Like, we're just.

Yeah.

Staff understand how much people love it and are willing to expend that discretionary effort to make it as good as they can for everybody.

I'm very proud of it.

You make a good point about really understanding each ticket.

Each pass has some limitations to it.

It has an expiration date, has a.

You know, so really be careful knowing if you.

If you want to go, make sure that you can go right in that time period.

Sometimes three days, five days.

I'm trying to go off a memory of certain passes, but no.

And I saw them going, oh, yeah, you gotta make some plans.

Yes.

It just can't be.

At the beginning of the summer, we're gonna get five passes and sometime we're gonna use them.

It's not that.

Right?

Not when you've got literally tens of thousands of people who are looking at those paths.

Right.

These are not.

It's bountiful, but not unlimited.

Not unlimited.

And we've shouted out to your colleagues who are doing all this work at the branches.

However, I think you mentioned to me that every morning you go in and figure out what's out there, what has to be closed down.

So I'm guessing you're putting a bit of your day into this program every day?

Yes, it is a large part of what I do, but I'm not sure what else I would do that would have as big a payoff for the amount of time.

So, yes, thank you for acknowledging that.

But it is, again, totally worth it to keep making these available.

And when there's a problem, I get to be the one who tries to solve it.

Like if somebody.

Was looking for a pass and couldn't find it or it got checked in on the wrong day or whatever.

Yeah.

Things happen.

We try to fix it.

Like you said, best job ever.

Yes.

When a patron has used a Culture Pass, they loved it, they had a great time, and of course, you see the smiles, that sort of thing.

Is there a way to give feedback to you in regards to.

We had a great time.

Thank you so much.

You want that?

You want to know each of those passes are doing what they should do?

Yes.

One of my favorite stories about that has to do with one of our most recent and hands down most popular culture passes, which is our brand new partnership with the Columbus Crew.

The Crew is an amazing organization and they reached out to us again to establish some kind of partnership.

It was a challenging partnership to arrange from the technical aspect because they are a completely online venue.

But we needed people to come in person to the library to get the passes.

So there was a lot of behind the scenes things to figure out for that.

And we had to start very small with them.

This is something that we have learned through experience.

You start small, figure out a way to make it work for everybody, and then you can sort of scale it up.

And for example, with the Ballet Met passes, the first year we tried it with Ballet Met, each of our 23 locations had one Culture Pass ticket for the Nutcracker.

That was it.

I'm surprised you even had that, quite frankly, because it's the most popular thing I know.

And so we found a way to make that work and it was the sort of proof of concept.

And now every location has 10 passes to every Ballet Met performance in the season.

So we sort of grew it.

So think with that in mind and that model for how it can succeed in mind.

We started very small with the Crew.

So we had 10 passes for six different home games, and they were all only available at Main Library.

And so we found A way.

And every time we had people lining up, it was like a concert.

Like before we opened, we had people at the door waiting to come in and borrow those.

Not James Patterson, right?

No, no.

Although there are James Patterson fans in the library every day, honestly.

So we started very small.

Every pass checked out within 15 minutes of becoming available for all of those games.

And while I was waiting in line with the customers who had come before the library opened, I was sort of out there with the line talking it up, making sure everybody had a library card.

I asked them, you know, if you can send me a picture of you at the crew game.

And so I did get some amazing pictures of families and folks who had gone to the game just smiling.

And so that was amazing feedback.

But honestly, the best feedback is to come and check them out every time I see.

And I do look just for my own fun and curiosity every day.

Ooh.

The Clippers passes have been available.

This upcoming Sunday is the last home game of the season for a Sunday game.

So our last Culture Pass game.

Have all the Culture passes checked out for Clippers?

I'm not sure.

I haven't looked in a couple hours, but most of them were checked out or we just started Opera Columbus and I, you know, looked there.

By the fifth day, all Opera Columbus passes were checked out across the city.

Oh, my gosh.

That's cool.

So the best thing you can do for feedback about how much you love Culture Passes is come in, check them out, use them, and if you also want to, take pictures and send it to me.

And I do, like, show that to staff and say, you know, it's hard to remember the rules for the opera pass versus chamber music or whatever, but.

But look how happy the folks are when they get to go.

It's awesome.

And that really is a reminder for everybody using the culture passes.

Let the library know you had a great experience.

Let the organization know you were there because of the Culture Pass.

They need to get that feedback, too.

Yeah, that's true.

Wonderful.

That is wonderful.

You know, we always ask our guests if they have any last words of wisdom for our audience.

Can you give us any other suggestions on utilizing the Culture Pass program?

Are there things that people forget or that they are not aware of and how customers can also reach out and give you suggestions on places to include, like the local pool.

Right.

Well, you can reach out to us via our website.

There is a chat function there, and it is not an AI chatbot when you chat in.

It is part of our call center team who are there.

So you can very quickly and easily get a message and say, hey, I went to Opera Columbus and it was awesome.

And then that gets passed up to me and I can sort of pass it along our leadership network.

I will also say just to brag on our call center team a little bit.

It is a small but mighty group of staff who are headquartered at main library and that answer calls and emails and chats from all over the city, from everywhere.

And Culture Passes is one of the number one questions they get asked.

So if you're not sure, I want to go and borrow the the pass to the Columbus Museum of Art.

How many people does that pass admit?

Like how many can go on that one pass?

Call center team has you covered.

How long do I have to use the Veterans Memorial Pass?

After I check it out, they know.

So if you need more information or the way we've worded it in our description on the website is not super clear or intuitive for you.

Call in or chat in to the library and we will help you figure out so that because we want to set people up for success when they go and we want them to have a seamless experience and we want it to be easy for our culture past partners.

We don't want to be sending people there who are going to have a problem because their ticket is expired or whatever.

Wonderful.

You know, I just want to tell the audience again, we're going to have all of the links and resources available to you and audience.

Don't forget we always talk about the library because it is an amazing resource.

Now we know about the Culture Pass program, but it is an amazing resource for those who are looking for jobs, for those who need some life skill assistance, for those who need more information about social services consumers report, whatever you need, whatever your questions are, the library is there to help you.

And I'm really excited because now my local Westerville library is part of the consortium, which Westerville is a wonderful library, but it's part of the consortium.

So now when I take out Westerville, a book from the Westerville Library, it may be stamped Columbus.

It could be stamped Marysville.

It could be from anywhere in the area.

So use the resource.

Thank you for supporting the levies and thank you, Stephanie, for all this wonderful information.

Yeah, exactly.

Many thanks to our expert guest, Stephanie Burleigh, manager of circulation for the Columbus Metropolitan Library and coordinator of the Culture Pass program.

Listeners, thank you for joining us as well.

You're going to find the contact information and resources we discussed in the podcast show Notes and on our website at lookingforwardourway.

Com, and we're looking forward to hearing your feedback on this or any of our other podcast episodes.