Experience Los Angeles Museums for FREE!

Did you know that Los Angeles residents can get into Los Angeles museums and cultural experiences for free? It’s true! Read on to learn how your Los Angeles County and Los Angeles Public Library cards are your tickets to amazing learning opportunities and experiences…for free!

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Where would you go?

Have your kids been asking to go to the Los Angeles Zoo? How about Discovery Cube? Would you believe that you can take them to these places absolutely free? No, I’m not paying for it. It’s not a giveaway either 😉 Have you ever heard the saying, “You don’t have to be rich to live a rich life?” You just need to know where to look!

Believe it or not, you can visit these places and more just by getting yourself Los Angeles County and Los Angeles Public Library cards! Maybe your thinking has been a lot like mine. “Why do I need to have a library card other than for my city?”

I could just kick myself for not getting my Los Angeles County and Los Angeles Public Library cards sooner! Aside from the usual books online, summer reading programs, etc., you can get tickets for FREE to local museums and even the Los Angeles Zoo!

How does it work?

You need to go online to the Discover and Go websites listed below, enter your library card information, look for where you would like to go, then reserve your day and time!

The Los Angeles County Library and Los Angeles Public Library offer some overlapping museum passes. However, some museum experiences are only offered by one of these libraries. You just need to check out the list below to compare.

My family has been wanting to visit the Autry Museum of the American West for the longest time. I read about getting free museum passes through the Los Angeles libraries and thought I would give it a try to see if it was truly free.

We would have (gladly) paid the $40 admission fee for our family of four. Instead, we got to experience the museum absolutely free! How amazing is that? We were able to make a day of it by heading out to lunch after and even buying some books to learn more about history of the American West!

The entire family got to walk through modern art exhibits, murals of the American West, and even got to make incredibly entertaining videos. My favorite part? Seeing relics such as clothing, guns, and a stage coach from the Old West.

I will be writing all about our experience at the Autry Museum of the American West soon. Keep your eyes peeled!

What’s the catch?

Everyone wants to take advantage of the free Los Angeles County Library and Los Angeles Public Library museum passes. So of course, some limitations have to be set so that everyone gets to enjoy the benefits of free museum passes.

Here are some key facts:

You must be 18 or older to reserve passes.
Your library card must be in good standing.
You are limited to two active reservations.
Some experiences are limited to once per calendar year.
The pass can only be redeemed by the person that made the reservation. My husband reserved 4 tickets for the family with his card. As long as he was there, we all got in 😉
Do NOT print your pass unless you are sure you will be able to make it. Once you print out the pass, you cannot cancel your visit. This will count toward your limited number of passes for that museum or cultural experience.
Cancel your passes within the specified time frame if you will not be able to make it on your reserved day and time. If you fail to do so, that reservation will count toward your limit.

Where can I go?

Here is a break down of museum and cultural experiences available for free with your Los Angeles library cards as of now.

I have made two separate lists for each library. Note that some of the museums and cultural experiences are on both lists. However, there are also some experiences that are only available via one library.

Los Angeles County Library

You can get free museum passes to the following museums with your Los Angeles County Library card:

Autry Museum of the American West

Catalina Island Museum

Chinese American Museum

Claremont Museum of Art

Craft Contemporary

Japanese American National Museum

Kidspace Children’s Museum

Los Angeles Conservancy

La Brea Tar Pits and Museum

Muckenthaler Cultural Center

Natural History Museum

Skirball Cultural Center

Just click HERE to reserve free passes to the museum of your choice. Be sure to have your library card and pin handy.

Los Angeles Public Library

Check out what you can experience with your Los Angeles Public Library card:

Autry Museum

Battleship Iowa

The Broad

Catalina Island Museum

Chinese American Museum

Craft and Folk Art Museum

Discovery Cube Los Angeles

Recording Academy Grammy Museum L.A. Live

Hammer Museum

Japanese American National Museum

Kidspace Children’s Museum

La Brea Tar Pits and Museum

La Plaza de Cultura Y Artes

Los Angeles Conservancy

Los Angeles Zoo

The Museum of Jurassic Technology

Museum of Tolerance

Natural History Museum

Skirball Cultural Center

Wende Museum of the Cold War

See something you like? Click HERE to reserve your free passes with your Los Angeles Public Library card.

It’s that simple!

As if living in Los Angeles wasn’t awesome enough! Now you can experience local museums and culture just for being an LA resident. Have fun on your new adventures!