Toronto Public Library Museum Passes: How to Book Yours

Your library card can do more than borrow books. Pointed at the right website, it can book you a free visit to a museum, a concert or a zoo.

What are the Toronto Public Library museum passes?

They are a library service, and they have a new name. Toronto Public Library calls it tpl:map, and it lets you discover, explore and enjoy Toronto’s arts, cultural experiences and attractions. If you remember the Museum + Arts Pass, this is the same programme: tpl:map was previously known as TPL’s Museum + Arts Pass (MAP) program.

The part that makes it a weekend favourite is the price tag, or the lack of one. You book your free pass with your adult library card.

How do you book a pass?

Think of it as a short, satisfying errand. You log in to the tpl:map reservation site with your library card, choose from the listed attractions, reserve your date, and print or download your pass.

Two habits will save you time:

• Browse the attraction list before you log in, so you know which visit you want.
• Check back at the start of each month, because passes are released online once a month.

Passes are subject to availability, so have a second choice in your pocket. TPL’s FAQ adds that each month’s passes are released online for the following month, which is handy for planning ahead. For the day and time of each release, and for any rule about cards or limits, go to TPL’s own pages. Those rules can change, and the library is the source to trust. The links are in the box at the end.

Which museums are on the list?

A good spread. The names on TPL’s list include the Aga Khan Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Bata Shoe Museum, the Gardiner Museum and the Royal Ontario Museum. Each attraction has its own pass details on the TPL page, so read the entry for the place you want before you reserve. Some entries are seasonal and say when a pass will return; the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, for example, is noted as returning in the fall. That makes the list worth a slow scroll rather than a quick glance.

Three that make a good first pass:

Aga Khan Museum. It was founded in 2014, and its permanent collection includes manuscripts, paintings, ceramics and textiles from the 9th to the 21st century. For a fuller visit plan, our Aga Khan Museum guide covers the park and gardens too.

Gardiner Museum. The museum describes its work as stewarding an internationally significant collection of ceramics while centring hands-on learning and making. If you like to see how things are made, this one is a natural pick.

Bata Shoe Museum. It is home to a collection of shoes and footwear-related objects. You will find it at the southwest corner of Bloor Street West and St. George. Our smile of the day: a museum devoted to footwear is a rare excuse to say your feet have had a cultural education.

What else can a library card book?

More than museums, which is the surprise. The list also includes music and theatre names such as Tafelmusik, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Stage and Tarragon Theatre.

Prefer something with fins, scales or rails? The list includes Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada, the Toronto Zoo, Reptilia, the Toronto Railway Museum and The Village at Black Creek. That makes it a useful tool for a family weekend as well as a quiet gallery afternoon.

How do you plan a visit around your pass?

Start with the attraction, then the date. You choose the attraction and the date when you reserve, so a quiet gallery afternoon and a family outing are two different bookings.

Before you go, open the attraction’s own website for the practicalities of the day. We link to several below, and every one of them is worth a bookmark. Keep your pass handy on your phone or in print, just as the booking steps suggest.

Treat the pass as a nudge to try something you have walked past a hundred times. A pass for a place you were already planning to visit is a bonus. A pass for a place you had never considered is the better story.

What does a three-month pass plan look like?

Here is one way to make the monthly release work for you. This is our suggestion, not TPL’s rule.

Month one, go for a museum: the list has the AGO, the ROM, the Gardiner and the Bata Shoe Museum to choose from. Month two, try the stage. Tafelmusik, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Stage and Tarragon Theatre are all named on the list. Month three, take the family somewhere with animals or trains, such as the Toronto Zoo, Reptilia or the Toronto Railway Museum.

By spring you will have had three different Torontos from one library card. Nobody at the dinner table needs to know how little planning it took.

Where can you find more free things to do?

The pass is one tool in a bigger kit. Our guide to free things to do in Toronto collects the rest, and free museum days in Toronto covers the museums’ own free windows. For a low-cost evening, see our cheap date ideas, and for this week’s plans check free things to do this weekend.

Send this to the friend who has a library card at the bottom of their wallet and a museum on their list.