In a small room on the fifth floor of the Main Library in downtown Fort Lauderdale, a handful of hopeful home buyers recently gathered around a long table and answered a resounding “yes” to the question of whether or not any of them wished to buy their first home.

“It’s better than paying rent,” said Myra Bethel, one of fewer than a dozen first-time home buyers attending an hour-long seminar on home ownership sponsored by the library’s Business, Law and Government Services department.

Librarian Helene Palmer said the library has been offering financial literacy seminars for about two years now, on hot topics such as preventing identity theft and building good credit.

This seminar on this day was led by Kathy Kiley, a customer education manager for Consumer Credit Management Services Inc. in Delray Beach, a nonprofit agency offering a variety of credit counseling and other services.

“Things will go up again, but right now they’re really down,” she said.

Rittivia Moore, a 39-year-old renter, came to the seminar because said she is tired of spending money every month on something she will never own.

“I’m just throwing my money away,” Moore said.