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Contra Costa County Library recently received a grant to expand its museum partnership program beyond the Bay Area. Discover and Go, a collaboration between the library and over 40 cultural venuesthat provides residents with free or discounted passes, will soon reach Los Angeles.

Established in 2010, Discover and Go now connects 30 local libraries and its users to museums, performance centers and galleries throughout the Bay Area's nine counties. The program was developed with the idea of allowing library users access to a different kind of education, one they might be unable to afford otherwise.

"We think it stands for how we can help each other and be a benefit for our residents, you receive an education in different ways and we believe libraries and museums are the perfect partners," said Deputy County Librarian Cathy Sanford.

Sanford said that the program has been extremely popular, adding that San Ramon residents have the highest usage rates in the county. Venues, such as the California Academy of Sciences and Lindsay Wildlife Museum, determine how many passes they will make available and decide which areas or zip codes will benefit from a limited supply.

To expand this popular program, the County Library was awarded an $84,000 grant by the California State Library in February. Sanford said part of the grant money will be used to bring Discover and Go to Los Angeles County and set up a regional program specific to Los Angeles that would allow other southern California cities to join the network eventually.

"Four million people will all have access to The Getty, everything you can think of that they work with down in southern California," Sanford said. "We hope that by demonstrating to our jurisdictions and our partners, that we can actually share. If someone from southern California were coming to northern California to visit, they would be able to access (Discover and Go) through a venue."

While being able to access the program in multiple parts of the state is far off, the county expects the L.A. Discover and Go program to be running in August.

"We are mighty and bold in our statements but we feel it is a way to support the economic well being of our state," Sanford said.

The rest of the grant will bring 10 additional libraries into the northern California network. Sanford said the program is eyeing Sacramento and Monterey as potential partners.

Residents interested in signing up for Discover and Go can visit their county library website and search for passes by zip code, date or venue.

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