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Vail library to host Common Cents Colorado financial literacy program

VAIL — The Vail Public Library has been selected as one of the first 13 Colorado libraries (out of 115) to implement a financial literacy initiative developed in Colorado. This new financial program is called Common Cents for Colorado. Program development was made possible by a grant from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation through Smart Investing@Your Library, a partnership with the American Library Association.

Common Cents for Colorado consists of a series of educational workshops designed to teach the basics of financial literacy. Workshop sessions cover the fundamental concepts used in personal money management, budgeting and financial planning. The program has proven so successful over the last five years in its original location that the program’s national funders proposed to expand the resources to other applicants statewide.

The Vail Public Library was selected based on a number of important criteria. Decisive factors that qualified the library include the number of adult programs and attendees, the percentage of the population who carry a library card, book circulation per library population served, and initiatives to bring creative and useful programming to users. Of special note were the recent additions of the Adult Summer Reading Program and the Healthy Lifestyle Series to the library’s programming and the creation of The Tech Studio, a “maker space” program now open at the library.



The original program, Common Cents Counts, was developed at the Estes Valley Library and now has the distinction of having been chosen for three consecutive grants, an unprecedented honor from a highly prestigious and competitive national program. While Estes Valley will serve as the central hub for Common Cents for Colorado, it is joined by two key state-level partners: the Colorado Library Consortium will serve as the program’s fiscal agent, while the Colorado State Library will provide collaborative support.

Mary McDougall, of the Vail Public Library, is planning to attend the program’s two-day planning and instruction summit, to be held in Estes Park this month. Adaptation for the local program will begin soon after. Watch for additional information at http://www.vaillibrary.com. For more information, call McDougall at 970-479-2186 or email mmcdougall@vailgov.com.


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