Libraries and the FTC — Check it out!

January 20th, 2010
by Carol

At the American Library Association’s conference last year, a delightfully enthusiastic gentleman was the first to approach the FTC’s exhibit, even before the hall officially opened. He cheerfully explained that he regularly uses FTC resources to help the patrons of his public library. I was flattered to learn that we were one of his “must see” stops (circled in red on the program).  He carried off a load of free materials — and bricks of jazzy-looking bookmarks with tips about being a savvy consumer.  

As my new friend at the ALA conference had discovered, the FTC and libraries are a great match. We’ve got free brochures, websites, videos and bookmarks — on consumer topics like credit, privacy and health — with information that can help meet your community’s needs and make your job a little easier.          

Are you in Young Adult Services or a school library?  Check out Net Cetera, a new booklet that covers the issues kids face online — social networking, cyberbullying, sexting and more. Or take a look at You Are Here our site that takes elementary and middle school kids on an experiential journey through a shopping mall to teach them how to be smarter consumers. 

Work in a public library?  Host a “Protect your ID Day” with our identity theft  education kit which has sample talking points, presentations, reference materials and tips to organize your own event. Or display brochures — or play videos — on mortgage foreclosure, annual credit reports, debt collection, or job scams. Cut and paste  FTC content for your newsletters, use interactive quizzes in your programs, download buttons for your website, and order free copies of publications to hand out.

And don’t forget to stock up on those bookmarks!

Tags: community outreach, identity theft, kids, library

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 4:50 pm and is filed under NCPW. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.