Program
Could your patrons weather a financial emergency? 40% of U.S. adults could not pay for an unexpected $400 expense from their savings, according to the Federal Reserve. The cost of recovering from a natural disaster is often even greater, compounded by the complexities of disaster relief programs. Upgrade your library’s financial literacy programming with expert panelists from different disaster response backgrounds to discuss how personal finance fits into disaster preparedness and recovery, including roles for libraries in financial emergency support and opportunities for connecting with trustworthy partners. Discover key resources for impactful financial emergency preparedness and recovery programs.
Natural disasters upend the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. After Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) received 573,000 registrations for assistance in one week. Not every storm is as disruptive as Harvey, but natural disasters frequently lead to financial crises for individuals and families, especially those already at the margins of financial stability before disaster strikes. Public libraries are crucial service providers when their communities are in crisis. They help with immediate human needs, support emergency services, and help with recovery in the mid- to long-term after the dust settles and the waters recede. Libraries also raise awareness about the danger of financial fraud schemes that are unfortunately common in the wake of tragedy.
Learn how your library can go beyond conventional financial literacy to provide new programming that will help your community financially prepare for and recover from the unexpected. Speakers include Aiden Street, Associate Director of the Pioneer Library System in Norman, Oklahoma, who has helped her community recover from a natural disaster, a representative from FEMA who will discuss the resources available to libraries seeking to provide vital financial preparedness services to their communities, and Robert Ganem of FINRA Investor Education Foundation, who will describe additional examples of what libraries are able to do to ensure that natural disasters don’t also become financial disasters for residents in affected communities. These experts will share their different disaster response experiences and provide the opportunity for participants to ask questions about their specific library contexts.
ALA Unit/Subunit: RUSA
Meeting Type: Program
Cost: Included with full conference registration.
Open/Closed: Open
Robert Ganem
Senior Program Director
FINRA Investor Education Foundation
Aiden Street
Associate Director
Pioneer Library System
Matthew Lyttle
Deputy Director, Acting
Federal Emergency Management Agency - ICPD