Most people think of a library card as a way to borrow books. In Yonkers, that's the least of it. The same free card can get your family onto an aircraft carrier, into MoMA and home with a telescope. Here's what it gets you.
A Free Pass to the Intrepid
The Yonkers Public Library lends museum passes the same way it lends books. The Intrepid pass covers three adults and three kids. The Intrepid is a real aircraft carrier, docked at Pier 86 on Manhattan's West Side. It's home to the space shuttle Enterprise, a submarine and a deck full of jets. You reserve the pass online, pick it up at your branch and bring it back to the same branch. Don't drop it in the book drop. Passes go back to the circulation desk.
12 Passes in All
The Intrepid is just one. The library has passes to 12 places. MoMA's pass admits the cardholder plus four guests, and it's kept at Will Library and Riverfront Library. The Guggenheim pass covers up to four adults or students, with half-price tickets for anyone extra. The Museum of Natural History works a little differently. It gives you vouchers, one free admission each, and you keep them. Dia Beacon lets in up to six guests per card. The rest of the list: the Frick, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Storm King, the New York Hall of Science, the Westchester Children's Museum and the Greenburgh Nature Center. Just know that passes go on a grown-up's card, so an adult books them.
One Right Here in Yonkers
The Hudson River Museum is on the list too, right on the river in Yonkers. The pass gets up to four people in free, and it takes 15% off in the museum shop. It doesn't cover the planetarium show or a visit to Glenview, the historic mansion on the grounds. You book a timed ticket on the museum's website first. Then you pick up the physical pass at the library the day before you go.
The Library of Things
Here's the fun part. The library lends a tabletop telescope from the circulation desk. Riverfront lends ukuleles. Will Library lends lawn games: croquet, lawn bowling, giant dice and Kubb. You can borrow a blood pressure monitor to check readings at home. There's an air quality monitor too, plus a bird-watching backpack for learning what's flying around your block. And Riverfront's children's room has more than 60 board games to play there.
Movies, Books and Classes From Your Couch
Your card works at home too. Kanopy streams documentaries, classics and indie films, with 30 tickets a month. Libby lets you borrow up to 10 e-books or audiobooks at a time. They return themselves when the loan ends, so there are no late fees. Hoopla adds three borrows a month. And LinkedIn Learning has free lessons on software, design and business skills.
How to Get a Card
It's free if you live, work, own property or go to school in Yonkers. You can apply online. If you work or go to school in Yonkers but live outside Westchester, apply in person with proof. Staff will email you a card number you can use right away, and the plastic card comes in the mail. Bronx residents can get one too. They renew it once a year and can use it only at Yonkers branches. There are three branches: Riverfront, Grinton I. Will and Crestwood.
And Will Library Is Getting an Upgrade
On Oct. 29, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $4.1 million to fully renovate the auditorium at Will Library. It was built in the 1960s and hasn't had a major upgrade since. Mayor Mike Spano thanked the Governor. He said the money "will ensure the auditorium continues to bring people together, support local arts and culture, and provide residents with a welcoming space to learn and engage for generations to come."
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