The Library in the Community
The Library is more than a place to find books. Across Dauphin County, we connect people with opportunities to read, learn, explore, create, and experience something new.
From StoryWalks and community gardens to museum passes, free books for travelers, and services for homebound residents, The Library brings literacy and learning into the places where people live, work, travel, and play.
Explore More with Your Library Card
Your library card can open the door to experiences beyond The Library.
Susquehanna Art Museum
Dauphin County Library System cardholders can receive one free admission during normal operating hours by showing their library card. Special events and member-exclusive events are excluded.
Susquehanna Art Museum
1401 N. 3rd St.
Harrisburg, PA 17102
717-233-8668
Visit the Susquehanna Art Museum
Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra
Library cardholders can receive a free ticket to their first Masterworks Series or Harrisburg Symphony Youth Orchestra concert.
Contact your local library for details.
Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra
800 Corporate Circle, Suite 101
Harrisburg, PA 17110
717-545-5598
Visit the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra
Fort Hunter Mansion Tours
Active Dauphin County Library System members can receive $1 off Mansion Tours at Fort Hunter Mansion.
Members must show their library card when they arrive. A 3% online transaction fee applies.
Fort Hunter Mansion
5300 N. Front St.
Harrisburg, PA 17110
717-599-5751
Mansion tours are available May 1 through December 23.
Theatre Harrisburg
Dauphin County Library System cardholders can receive discounted tickets to selected Theatre Harrisburg performances, helping make live theater more accessible to our community.
Current offers are listed in The Library’s program guide, Compass, or on the Events & Programs page.
Let’s Go for a StoryWalk®
What is better than a story? A StoryWalk!
A StoryWalk is a fun, free way for families to enjoy reading and being outdoors at the same time. Read a page of a children’s picture book, then stroll along the trail to the next page. Questions and activities along the way provide opportunities to explore the story even deeper.
Find a StoryWalk
Capital Area Greenbelt | Paxtang Parkway
Take Derry St. to Parkway Blvd. to the Paxtang Parkway parking lot behind the City Line Diner. Follow the Greenbelt north toward Paxtang Commons Park.
In partnership with the Capital Area Greenbelt Association.
Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art
176 Water Company Rd.
Millersburg, PA 17061
Find the StoryWalk along Smitty’s Locust Loop trail.
In partnership with the Ned Smith Center for Nature and the Arts.
Stray Winds Park
Lower Paxton Township Parks & Recreation
3919 McIntosh Rd.
Harrisburg, PA 17112
In partnership with Lower Paxton Township Parks & Recreation, the Lower Paxton Township Arts Council, and Dauphin County Technical School.
Each StoryWalk location features a different story, and stories change seasonally.
Did you know?
Low literacy costs the United States $225 billion or more each year through lost productivity, crime, and lost tax revenue associated with unemployment, according to PA Forward, an initiative of the Pennsylvania Library Association.
StoryWalks help build basic literacy skills while encouraging families to spend time together and enjoy the outdoors.
Why StoryWalks?
- Build early literacy skills. Reading together helps develop essential listening and speaking skills.
- Get active outdoors. Time in nature can support physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
- Spend time together. Shared reading and outdoor activities create opportunities for quality family time.
- Discover The Library. StoryWalks can introduce young readers and their families to the world of books and everything The Library has to offer.
StoryWalk® was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont, and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. StoryWalk® is a registered service mark owned by Ms. Ferguson.
Mary’s Garden at Northern Dauphin Library
The Northern Dauphin Library’s community garden, Mary’s Garden, began in 2023. It was named in honor of a former Northern Dauphin Library staff member who planted the “seed” for the garden.
The garden includes 10 raised beds and two standing beds, growing carrots, herbs, bush beans, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, radishes, and red beets.
Food grown in the garden is freely offered to people visiting the library and to the local food pantry, Upper Dauphin Human Services. Community members can also harvest their own produce from the garden.
Mary’s Garden is made possible through a partnership with Penn State Health and a Rite Aid Healthy Futures Grant.
Seed Libraries at The Library
Come grow with us!
A seed library gives community members an opportunity to learn about agriculture, grow healthier foods, and participate in a culture of sharing.
Members are encouraged to “borrow” seeds, grow them, harvest seeds from their plants, and return those seeds to The Library so they can be shared with others.
Lend & Tend Seed Library | Northern Dauphin Library
The Lend & Tend Seed Library opened in 2023 in partnership with Penn State Health and a Rite Aid Healthy Futures Grant.
East Shore Area Library Seed Library
In 2025, a seed library was established at East Shore Area Library as an Eagle Scout Service Project by Max Wilkerson of Boy Scout Troop 77 in Harrisburg.
Max built wooden units, created informational flyers and instructions, and helped make the seed library sustainable and easy to use.
Adventures on the Go
A Library for Travelers at Harrisburg International Airport
Heading out on an adventure? Take a story with you.
Adventures on the Go is a free, mobile library at Harrisburg International Airport (HIA). No library card is necessary.
Travelers can take a book, enjoy it during their journey, and pass it along or keep it as part of their adventure.
Located on the second floor near arrivals and departures, the library offers books for all ages, from board books for young children to titles for teens and adults. Because the library is located before TSA screening, it can serve all HIA travelers.
Adventures on the Go is part of a growing trend of “flybraries”—small, free book-sharing stations appearing at airports around the country.
“At its heart, this project is about meeting people where they are. Life gets busy, and sometimes visiting a library is not possible. This allows us to bring stories directly to travelers and airport staff, creating moments of joy, discovery, and connection.”
The Library collaborated with Middletown Public Library and Marie Byers, Business Development Manager at HIA, to bring Adventures on the Go to the airport.
Through Adventures on the Go, The Library continues to find new ways to serve the community by transforming everyday spaces into opportunities for learning, imagination, and connection.
Book Dash
Books Delivered to Homebound Residents
Sometimes, coming to The Library isn’t possible. Book Dash helps bring the library to people at home.
In partnership with the Dauphin County Area Agency on Aging (DCAAA), The Library provides books and books-on-CD to homebound residents who participate in the Home Delivered Meals program.
Through Book Dash, The Library uses Community Collection items to provide each participant with three books or books-on-CD from their selected genre each quarter.
Library staff, volunteers, and Friends of The Library select and prepare the requested materials. Items are bundled and made ready for pickup, then DCAAA volunteers deliver the book requests along with home-delivered meals.
The Library Is Everywhere
Whether you’re walking a trail, growing vegetables, catching a flight, attending a concert, exploring a museum, or enjoying a book at home, The Library is here to help you read, learn, and connect with your community.
