Money Smart Week, which will be celebrated this year starting on April 21, is a national initiative of ALA and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to provide financial literacy programming to help members of your community better manage their personal finances.
But teaching financial literacy does not have to happen only during April. Here are a few ideas to help promote financial literacy and make money smart students any time of year.Â
This program was offered as part of Thinking Money exhibit, a traveling exhibit about financial literacy offered by the ALA Public Programs Office and the FINRA Foundation.
College & Me is a multi-series offering — provided in partnership with the local Utah State University Extension office — that provides a comprehensive view of how individuals can prepare to attend college. Open to teens and adults, the class covers basic steps to searching for scholarships and financial aid, along with some application tips and FAFSA best practices.
ALA and the FINRA Investor Education Foundation invite public libraries to apply for a Thinking Money for Kids Program Kit, a collection of expertly vetted programming resources to help libraries offer financial education for children ages 3 to 12, both in the library and in children’s homes.
April is Financial Literacy Month! How do you teach financial literacy to the younger crowds at your library?
ALA, in collaboration with the FINRA Investor Education Foundation (FINRA Foundation), has released Thinking Money for All Kids: Diverse and Inclusive Reads to Teach Young People ab
In partnership with the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Central Oklahoma (CCCS), Pioneer Library System (PLS) staff presented numerous six-week Fiscally Fit Bootcamps to library staff and vital community partners such as municipal employees, tribal groups, local utility workers and technology centers in all 12 library communities.
Money Builders is a one-day camp with a Lego theme. At our library, this program was created for the children of refugees, although it could be a great program for any child.
Through games and discussion, children learn about needs versus wants, the importance of saving, why using banks is important, and what things cost. Participants were given Money Builders t-shirts, a Lego key chain, a savings jar, and lunch. At the conclusion of the camp, they watched The Lego Movie.
"Money Madness Teen Lock-in" took place at The Florence County Library System in 2012 and remains the largest number of teens ever recorded for an event at the library.
A teen lock-in gets its name from the fact that it takes place after hours when the library is closed (locked) to the public. Food, games, and prizes were used to entertain and educate 189 teens in financial literacy.Â
A year and a half into the pandemic, I’m contemplating a fall semester that might be more like fall 2019 than fall 2020, though the COVID-19 delta variant continues to loom like a specter over my financial literacy programming plans.
Through it all, I’m mostly thinking about what to keep from a fully remote year and how to most effectively prepare for a potential pivot back to remote delivery or other unexpected changes.
Your library might hesitate to offer financial literacy programming because of concerns about giving financial advice or setting up an opportunity for uncomfortable money questions. These concerns might be hard to navigate at first, but if the entire library staff is appropriately trained on handling financial literacy-related questions, you can mitigate these issues.
I feel like I should start with a disclaimer: I am not a financial professional. I am a librarian.
May is Older Americans Month, first proclaimed by Gerald Ford in 1976. The past year has been challenging for all Americans, but the consequences of the pandemic fell heavily on older Americans and their families and caregivers. A unique challenge that many older Americans face is money management.
We’ve surpassed the one-year mark of the pandemic and find ourselves facing another Money Smart Week in a virtual environment. I know many libraries had to scrap last year’s in-person Money Smart Week plans or scramble to develop online replacements at the last minute.
Money Smart Week is a national public education program coordinated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and delivered by a network of supporters that empowers people with the knowledge and skills to make better-informed personal financial decisions.
This year, like so many other things, Money Smart Week has gone virtual.
I have a confession: I’m an accidental business librarian. My background is in art history, but like many public librarians, I was placed in a department that needed staff, and that department was business services. I grew to love business reference and helping entrepreneurs with business planning and research. I even got the opportunity to create and grow the Business Resource and Innovation Center (BRIC) at the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Communities thrive when their members understand how money works, know who they can talk to about specific financial topics, and have access to quality, consumer-friendly learning materials.
ALA, in partnership with the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, has released a collection of free online games to teach children basic financial skills related to earning, saving and spending money.
The four interactive games — part of a series called Thinking Money for Kids and available at tm4k.ala.org — are designed for children ages 7 to 11 but are appropriate for other ages as well.
