Head to the library to find good financial advice

If you're looking for a real bargain in getting basic personal finance help, why not take a look at your local public library?

And for those who have occasion to visit Manhattan, here's a new resource: Financial Literacy Central, a free information hub just unveiled at the Science, Industry and Business Library at Madison Avenue and 34th Street, just a few blocks from Penn Station. It's an initiative of the New York Public Library and McGraw-Hill Cos. Click here to visit nypl.org/finan cialliteracynow.

Resources you can find at the hub:

Workshops. Check out websites of your local library for sessions on everything from mortgage refinancing to getting out of debt to the services you can get at credit unions.

Some libraries are even alerting consumers to offerings through Twitter and Facebook.

Upcoming at the Brentwood Public Library: "Couponing for Beginners" on July 28 helps you learn the ins and outs of using coupons to get the best bargains. Click here to visit brentwood.suffolk.lib.ny.us.

Later this month at the Financial Literacy Central: "Women and Money," June 10; "Mutual Funds from A to Z," June 15; and "Who Needs a Will?" June 22.

Consultation. Free one-on-one 45-minute sessions with members of the Financial Planning Association of New York on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4-7 p.m.

Others. Magazines, such as Money, Consumer Reports, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, some even in Braille or on audiocassette; the latest bestseller personal finance books to check out and read at home or on the beach; and perhaps most useful of all, librarians, who are trained to listen to your information needs and point you to resources you may not even know exist.