The Money Smart for Life Award is designed to recognize libraries coordinating programs that support financial literacy education to community members of any age. Financial literacy is a critical skill set for individuals to earn, manage, save, and invest money in ways that enable financial security and well-being. Learning about money at a young age and continuing throughout their lives allows individuals to develop and grow new skills as their financial goals change. Libraries are encouraged through Money Smart for Life to host programs during Financial Literacy Month in April and throughout the year based on the needs and interests of their local communities.

The Money Smart for Life Award is intended to highlight innovative and impactful financial literacy programs that could be used as a model for other libraries. Funding is available to fund approximately 10 awards at $1,000 each. Award funds may be used at the discretion of the recipient library to further their financial literacy programming.

Submit an application to nominate your library’s financial literacy program (programs must be held between July 1, 2025, and May 15, 2026). Be as specific and detailed as possible to explain the program that was held, the people that it targeted, and the subsequent impact on attendees.

The deadline for this application is June 5, 2026.

For more information, visit www.njstatelib.org/moneysmart.

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* 1. Name

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* 2. Email Address

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* 3. Phone Number

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* 4. Title

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* 5. Library Name

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* 6. Library Address

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* 7. Library Website

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* 8. Program Begin Date

Date

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* 9. Program End Date

Date

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* 10. Describe the program or program series.

Your answer should also:
  • Include the title of the program or program series
  • Explain the rationale for creating this program and the target audience
  • Describe the program or series of programs including specific details about the logistics, content, individuals and/or organizations involved, number of participants, and other key details

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* 11. Describe the impact the program or program series had on your community

Your answer should also:

  • Explain how you publicized this program or program series
  • Describe how you evaluated this program or program series
  • Provide quotations in support of the program from library staff and the participants in the program

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* 12. Identify key components of the program that were essential to the program’s success and key components that might need to be modified for use in other libraries.

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* 13. What would you change about the program? How did this program take the library to the next level in terms of programming for this age group?

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* 14. Please upload up to three items in support of the program. Items may include:
  • Photographs (must have a resolution of at least 300 DPI)
  • Program flyers
  • News articles
  • Posters
  • Links or screen shots of social media posts
  • Links to online videos (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) about the program
  • Documents produced by or on behalf of the library as a part of the program

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* 15. Second file upload

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* 16. Third file upload

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