DENVER—A dozen U.S. libraries have won a total of more than $800,000 in grants to help patrons gain financial literacy, from keeping a budget to planning for retirement.
The grants are from a foundation of the independent securities company regulator FINRA, or the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The FINRA Investor Education Foundation, with the American Library Association, first awarded such grants last year, a time when values of many stock portfolio dropped and foreclosures rose.
Loveland is among communities that will benefit from grants this year, said foundation President John Gannon. A full list of libraries and grant amounts will be released Saturday during the library association’s midwinter meeting in Denver.
Some grant recipients last year used the money to offer lectures, tax preparation aid, or training for staff to help patrons find investment information.
Gannon said the idea is to offer free, unbiased information to investors who need it most.
“It’s very important and much needed because as we’ve seen, people who didn’t have financial literacy skills made some really bad judgments,” said American Libraries Association President Jim Rettig. “They didn’t read mortgage documents, they didn’t realize they could not meet escalated payments in a year or two. FINRA grants provide that sort of financial-literacy training.”
Libraries have seen demand for their services grow since the economy started slipping. People are borrowing more books, movies, magazines and music instead of buying, and libraries are seeing more job seekers, Rettig said.
“A lot of companies require online job applications now. If you don’t have a computer or Internet access at home, the public library is about the only opportunity you have to use them,” Rettig said.
