AtoZ Blogging Challenge – Financial Literacy

Program Name: Common Cents

What: Offer a program about financial literacy for any age group from preschoolers to senior citizens and you’ll be surprised by the turnout. We’ve offered preschool storytime, elementary school age and middle school programs, programs for millennials and senior citizens. This program theme can run the gamut for all ages and all experience levels. Some of our most popular programs are 4-week series of classes about preparing for retirement. We partner with local investment advisors to provide these informational classes to the community.

Where: These programs can take place in small or large meeting rooms depending on your space and audience size. These classes are fairly versatile and can be adapted to almost any library.

When: April is Money Smart Month and there are a ton of resources to take advantage of if you sign up for Money Smart Week. We offer adult financial literacy classes as series 2-3 times a year and they are always very popular. We tend to offer the financial literacy for kids programs during April and the parents are always really thankful for the program. We make a point of keeping them fun for the kids, while they’re also learning at the same time.
Who: Financial literacy programs can be for all ages from preschoolers to senior citizens. Each group of people would have a different program focus, but all will benefit from understanding finances better.

How: This program (for adults and senior citizens) really should be offered by a person in the field. The presenter would not be giving individual advice to people looking at purchasing stocks or bonds or thinking about retirement, but they would be offering informational sessions on things like setting up a budget, reducing debt, home buying, Social Security and so much more. They can also provide programming for millennials about credit score, renting vs. buying, setting up a retirement account. Your children’s librarian may feel comfortable enough to provide programming for kids – basic sorting for really little ones, learning the difference between change, basic information about saving and spending – all of these basic topics are easy enough to teach at a kid’s level by your programming or children’s librarian.

Alternatives:

• Financial Literacy storytime with sorting money activity
• Saving vs. Spending for elementary school age students
• Learning about the different between good debt and bad debt, how putting money aside can prepare you for retirement for middle school and high school students
• Budgeting 101 for teens and young adults
• Retirement Roadmap for older adults
• … and so many more options!

During the month of April, I’ll be participating in the 2018 Blogging from A to Z Challenge. For this year’s theme, I’ll be offering you a library program plan with everything you to need to re-create it at your own library. Most of these programs we’ve offered in the past, others are programs I’d like to try in the future. I’m always looking for new inspiration and I thought you might be too!