Rapid City Public Library Offers Economic Resources

By Susan Braunstein, Programming Librarian

The economy is on the minds of everyone, although each person is impacted differently. If you have a job, can feed your family, can get to work, own your home, and can save a little money you are one of the fortunate ones.
There is some debate whether we are in a recession heading into a depression. If you would like to study the history of the Great Depression of the 1930’s in order to compare it with today’s circumstances, there are several choices for adults and children in the library. One of the newer books on the topic is “The Forgotten Man: a New History of the Great Depression,” by Amity Shlaes, which details the personal lives of lesser-known people who lived through it day by day.

Many people have heard of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and a new book “American Made: the Enduring Legacy of the WPA: when FDR put the nation to work,” has been published to coincide with the 75th anniversary of FDR’s New Deal.

What is not as well-known is that artists and authors as well as blue-and white-collar workers benefited from the WPA, through the Federal Project Number One, or Federal One. It was organized into the Federal Art Project (FAP), the Federal Theater Project (FTP), the Federal Music Project (FMP) and the Federal Writers Project (FWP). In 1935, Congress gave the WPA twenty-seven million dollars to employ jobless artists.

In just one group, the FAP, there were five thousand artists, painters, muralists, sculptors, graphic artists and others. They were grateful to get $23.86 per week, according to the book “Headin’ For Better Times – the Arts of the Great Depression,” written by Duane Damon.

Books of interest for younger readers include “Causes and Consequences of the Great Depression,” by Stewart Ross; “Life During the Great Depression,” by Dennis Nishi; and “Dust to Eat: Drought and Depression in the 1930’s,” by Michael L. Cooper.

With our current economic crisis, we have seen several efforts by Congress to help alleviate the banking and mortgage plight. How some people have gotten to such a desperate place in their lives is addressed in “Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders,” by James D. Scurlock. He gives the reader personal stories from across the country of people who have fallen into one kind of money trap or another. He also interviews the people who came up with ideas of how to tantalize people with easy credit, such as the focus on the college age population and the ease of getting credit to them.

If you are interested in credit counseling, the local non-profit agency Consumer Credit Counseling Service, www.cccsbh.com, offers individual counseling. They also have a class schedule for December 2008 and January 2009 that covers a variety of topics such as “Make Your Move … Guide to Home Ownership,” and “Credit When Credit is Due.” The classes are free and are held in the evenings.

When I was visiting with my elderly mother this week she was concerned about her stock market investments and wondering about her financial future. I know she would appreciate the library’s resources that can be used to do research. From the RCPL website at www.rapidcitylibrary.org, click on the “Resources” link to find information such as TheStreet.com Ratings, that can be used to evaluate more than 13,000 insurers and health care providers as well as stocks and bonds. Morningstar, another financial resource, covers more than 20,000 stocks, mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). This database is available both online and in print at the downtown library.
Also on the “Resources” link are Business Resources which provide links to information about the business world including investing, business plans, magazines, government, financial calculations, stock and commodity markets, and historical stock quotes.

Many people have decided to participate in their own investment decisions by joining an investment club. The Better Investing group is a non-profit volunteer based member driven organization, and can be found online at www.better-investing.org. If you are interested in finding out more about investment clubs, there is a contact through the Sioux Empire Chapter, Elaine Issacson 605-274-9618 or e-mail walleye05@hotmail.com. There is also useful information at Yahoo –www.finance.yahoo.com/education/investment_clubs.

For anyone who is trying to figure out how to stretch those dollars farther, there are many different websites with advice. I found the following had some helpful hints: www.shoestringbudget.org; www.doughroller.net; and www.frugalliving.com.
On a local level, I just joined a group through www.yahoo.com; Pennington County Freecycle (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PenningtonCountyFreecycle) allows you to post something you no longer want or need as a giveaway to others. This past week people listed furniture, a carpet cleaner, decorations, clothes and much more on this site. The whole idea is to try and keep things out of the landfill and promote a community connection.
Whatever your financial circumstances the Rapid City Public Library is a place to visit or go online to learn more about how to survive in this inconstant world.