Cordray ‘astonished’ by CFPB progress on Columbus-tested library program

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Evan Weese

U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau boss Richard Cordray said the agency's financial literacy effort involving public libraries has grown quickly.

Evan Weese

Staff reporter- Columbus Business First

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The consumer financial watchdog agency overseen by former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray is seeing better-than-expected results in a program turning public libraries into centers for financial education.

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last year tapped the Columbus Metropolitan Library and eight other library systems for a test of its so-called Libraries Project to improve Americans' financial literacy. The program now counts 370 systems in 48 states, Cordray said Friday while visiting the Columbus library's main branch downtown.

"(It) has expanded across the country and dramatically exceeded my expectations," the Grove City native told library staff and community members. "We thought that we might, within two years, expand to 50 library systems."

Cordray told me afterward he is "astonished" by the speed at which the program has taken hold and sees it as a bureau priority in 2015, along with rule making for prepaid cards and payday lending.

The agency launched the program 18 months ago to prepare librarians to help consumers find useful information on personal financial topics. Cordray envisions librarians directing consumers to unbiased information on mortgages, managing credit card debt and saving money during tax season.

He charged Columbus Metropolitan Library CEO Pat Losinski with recruiting other systems in Ohio.

"Columbus stands out to me as a splendid example of the hopes we have for libraries nationwide," Cordray said in prepared remarks. "We're making great progress, but we also know this work has a long way to go."

Evan Weese covers funding and capital for Columbus Business First.