Libraries throughout the state offer the national Money Smart program to teach kids concepts of money management.
the use of the button-making machine to enhance their back-to- school supplies with customizations in a fun and creative way. “They rent the use of the button maker,” she says. “We have all kinds of artwork in the right sizes for their backpacks—Barbie, Batman, etc.—and kids make their own designs and put [them] in a machine and a hand crank makes a zipper pull for backpacks or jackets. Buying, renting and borrowing are all concepts examined during the experience. “We used to go to Blockbuster when we were kids and rent movies, but kids today don’t rent things,” she explains. "They borrow at the library, so we teach them how to buy, rent and borrow. Kindergartners don’t usually get that concept and are leaning.” The grant money provided the libraries with 800 sets of school supplies—each includes one backpack equipped with 20 pieces of additional scholastic items. Each of the seven locations had 115 backpacks to use for the school supplies store, resulting in a whopping disbursement of a total of 650 essentials-filled backups for local kids. “We’ve been recipients of this grant since 2016,” she says. “This year and last year were especially generous opportunities. Next year will be different with budget changes—it won’t be to the same level again.” Icaza aims to continue the event annually, grant or no grant. “I’m going to make sure we manage to do it even if the grant can’t.” What’s more, the library hired 14 interns, between the ages of 16 and 18, to work as cashiers for the makeshift store. “We were able to budget California minimum wage as well as testing them for bilingual pay,” says Icaza. “They can take those test results to other jobs, and they understand the value of that—their skills equal more money.”
Money Smart at the library The Sonoma County library has been the recipient of a California state grant known as the Summer Lunch at the Library program since 2016. While the funding ensures that children get access to nutritional lunches during summer break, the library developed additional programs throughout the season to enrich children through the funding—one of those, Money Smart, is a national program that teaches financial literacy. Rachel Icaza, education initiatives librarian for Sonoma County, launched the Money Smart: School Supplies Store in seven of the 14 local libraries. The selected libraries are those in areas with an underserved demographic. The program is designed for kids from as young as kindergarten all the way to 17, and gets them ready for their return to school while they familiarize themselves with the concept of money management. “This is a financial literacy event that results in kids going home with school supplies,” says Icaza. “Going back to school, supplies are essential,” she emphasizes. To make the experience mutually beneficial, they made a “shop” in the library, using “Otto bucks,” or fake money stamped with an image of library mascot Otto the otter. Additionally, the library hired interns to set up the store and work as cashiers. “Paid teen interns use a [toy] cash register, set up all the supplies, and the participating kids all receive 40 Otto bucks to spend,” she says. The kids are then presented with different school supplies with prices attached. “They discuss with their parent or child-care provider that they attend with about what they need,” she says. “A ruler? Notebook? They make a little budget, get a shopping list together, take it all to the cashier and count out how much each thing costs.” The participants learn about money, adding, subtracting and even socialization skills by shopping for school supplies. Once their items are purchased, the kids can additionally “rent”
Credit union offers a bite As for the more mature teens who are preparing to flee the nest
50 NorthBaybiz
September 2024
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