Mayborn Museum: Reach Out Programs
Located on the Baylor University Campus, the Mayborn Museum Complex, a natural science and cultural history museum, welcomes visitors from across Central Texas. The campus community, alongside local school groups, families and more, can be seen exploring and enjoying the many exhibits on display, from permanent installations featuring themed discovery rooms to travelling exhibits. Guided by their mission and vision, the Mayborn aims to serve the community with distinction by providing greater opportunities for all to learn and grow, and has launched programs to support those goals—like the Mayborn Reach Out programs.
The Mayborn Reach Out programs serve as a way for the museum to reach new and under-served audiences and include Community Days along with the Borrow a Membership and Museums for All programs.
Community Days offer museum guests days packed with fun, where they can explore the Discovery Center, natural history exhibits and the Gov. Bill & Vara Daniel Historic Village without an admission fee.
The two other programs underneath the Mayborn Reach Out umbrella include Borrow a Membership and Museums for all, which provide additional opportunities for free and discounted admission. Borrow a Membership allows Waco/McLennan County and Hewitt Public Library patrons opportunities to borrow a museum day pass for up to two adults and four children at no cost.
Additionally, through Museums for All, a program of the Association of Children’s Museums and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Mayborn offers low-income families admission to the museum for $1 with the presentation of an Electronic Benefits Transfer card. The discounted admission cost hopes to encourage families of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum habits.
The Mayborn Reach Out programs build upon a legacy of community outreach, beginning with the long-standing Free Sunday Program which gave way to the programs offered today. Each of these programs has expanded access to better connect with underserved communities. A museum visit can inspire the development of new skills and interests and ignite creativity and enrich social connections. By addressing financial and logistical barriers to visitation, These strive to mitigate the social and academic barriers individuals face when they are not exposed to high-quality museum experiences.