Free Library cardholders know that the library is a passport to literacy, learning, and curiosity. But did you know that the Free Library can also assist your actual travels around our city, our country—and the world?

Today, May 7, is National Tourism Day, and we’re celebrating all the ways that the Free Library helps intrepid Philadelphians go where they’ve never gone before!

Our first stop on this voyage is Northeast Regional Library, the only Free Library location that is also an officially designated passport application acceptance facility. Northeast Regional offers passport processing for new U.S. passports or passport cards; you may also have your passport photo taken for all passports (new and renewals). No appointment necessary.

Got your passport? Great! Find out where it can take you. Throughout the Free Library system—and in particular at the Parkway Central Library—you can find guidebooks that will help you plan your next adventure. We have resources for every taste, and then some: check out our titles on environmental volunteering, traveling with teens and children, designing an itinerary around dinosaurs, finding and appreciating Ethiopia’s breathtaking churches, planning a road trip to Florida, undertaking free and low-coast travel, and—for the daring—how to visit active volcanoes around the world.

Of course, there’s so much to explore in our own backyard. Plan a pilgrimage to Pennsylvania’s ghost towns, or take a day trip on either side of the Delaware River—we have guidebooks to beautiful hikes in both eastern Pennsylvania and Camden. And who says you can’t be a tourist right here in your own city? The Free Library’s collection includes books specifically for Philadelphians who want to explore where they live, like this guide to our many wonderful museums. For a day outdoors, take yourself on a self-guided architecture tour with this handy volume on our city’s built environment—and along the way, find local food specialties and hidden spots you never knew existed in Unique Eats and Eateries of Philadelphia, published just last year.

Happy National Tourism Day from the Free Library—and happy exploring!