Auditor General of Pennsylvania, Timothy L. DeFoor, said on Monday that Pennsylvania libraries are more than just books; they are a central understanding gateway where you can get a number of sources for free.
“Having a library card will help you on your journey to becoming financially literate and one of the biggest benefits is that it gives you access to information about money,” DeFoor said.
In order to encourage the school’s contribution to raising awareness of financial education and fundamental life skills, the Auditor General made a visit to Wilkes-Barre’s Osterhout Free Library as part of Financial Literacy Month.
The Osterhout Free Library provides components and solutions to all people of Luzerne County, enabling them to get knowledge, free of charge, for their personal, educational, fun and professional needs. These services are being expanded and used in the collection as a way to promote their use.
AG DeFoor even praised his “Money$ mart Monday” virtual information classes, which are a partnership between the office and PSECU designed to assist Pennsylvanians in their financial freedom trip.
The first “Money$ store Monday,” available today, provides information for college kids on how to budget their funds, protect for completion, and learn about their student loans.
“Understanding how to ‘Be Money$ store ‘ is crucial to Pennsylvania’s potential financial accomplishment”, AG DeFoor said. Rarely is it too early to begin considering how cash functions. We hope that through these online details sessions, we can offer valuable information to students who are entering college or getting ready to grad so they can proceed on their path to financial independence.
On Monday, speakers at the Osterhout included:
Rick Miller, Executive Director, Osterhout Free Library, Larry Newman, Executive Director, Diamond City Partnership, Lindsay Griffin- Boylan, President & CEO, Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce & Greater Wilkes- Barre Chamber of Business and Industry, and Mayor George Brown.
In conjunction with his “Be Money$ mart” initiative, AG DeFoor has spent nearly three years promoting financial literacy throughout the state.
Since the start in 2021, DeFoor has:
- Organized a state-wide financial education journey to increase awareness of the need for Pennsylvania’s financial literacy laws.
- Visited all express- and state-related institutions in Pennsylvania to talk about the value of knowing how your cash works, as well as the work and internship opportunities available to the office.
- Visited many YMCAs across the state to talk about financial education with students taking the State YMCA of Pennsylvania Youth and Government system.
- Partnered with Junior Achievement to give elementary school students economic education instruction.
- collaborated with regional financial institutions to offer common financial literacy assets;
- Co-ordinated a nationwide financial education competition for high school students in Pennsylvania with Harrisburg University of Science and Technology and Members 1st.