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.
COVID-19 isn't just a health crisis; for many Americans, the pandemic has caused economic turmoil as well. As members of ALA's Financial Literacy Interest Group, we know the importance of financial capability skills, and this was a moment for us to step up.
So facing statewide "shelter at home" orders this spring, public and academic libraries made a quick shift to online financial literacy programming. Here’s what we learned along the way.
Dealing with finances is stressful! In fact, a survey from the American Psychological Association shows that money is a more frequent cause of worry than work, family or health issues.
Libraries across the country are empowering people with the knowledge to make sound financial decisions by offering a variety of services, resources, and programs, many of which are spotlighted in the new book, "Rainy Day Ready: Financial Literacy Programs and Tools."
Money makes the world go 'round; to be comfortable, we have to make it, save it and seriously consider how we spend it. Of course, successfully managing your money matters is incredibly difficult without basic financial literacy.Â
ALA is seeking contributing authors who would like to author projects in an upcoming book "Financial Literacy at the Library"Â (working title), edited by Kathy Rosa and Melanie Welch, to be published by ALA Editions.
This book on personal finance and financial literacy in libraries will include a robust section of program models featuring effective financial literacy-themed programs and activities. We hope for it to be an all-in-one recipe book for inspiring and creating innovative financial literacy programming that will be chock-full of practical project ideas for libraries.
Ronda Rex, a family and consumer science specialist with the University of Kentucky Cooperative, guided participants in making holiday gifts using simple ingredients found in most any kitchen. The program was held on a Thursday in mid-December at 3:30 p.m.Â
Ronda talked about ways to save money by creating homemade gifts for friends and family and how the savings could pay future dividends. She showed us how to decorate mason jars filled with trail mix and how to make a cocoa mix placed in plastic bags and decorated to look like reindeer.
Lakewood has historically been a very welcoming place for new Americans. Our area recently saw an influx of new residents from Southeast Asia, so we decided to host a financial literacy class for Nepali and Burmese-speaking people.
We regularly work with a group called Asian Services in Action (ASIA Inc.), so we decided to reach out to them since they had the expertise needed for the workshops. We held the program at our Madison branch, which is located in a neighborhood where a lot of immigrants settle.Â
