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Your Library There are few people who would not agree that a public library is a vital asset to any community. The . free and easy access to books, magazines, and other printed material is something that all can take use for reference information and for the sheer joy that comes from reading. : The Scugog Public Library is serving that function and statistics show very clearly that more and more citizens of this Township are joining the library and using the books and lending services which it has to offer. In fact, the increase has been rather dramatic. For example: last year the circulation of books and periodicals amounted to 48,096, an increase of almost 10,000 over the figures for 1976. As of the end of 1977 the library has 3,228 registered children and adult borrowers, up from 2,553 the previous year. As a member of CORL, the Central Ontario Regional Library system, Scugog Township resid- ents who belong to the library here have access to books and films in the more than 20 libraries that make up the regional system. And the library is increasing the number of books on its shelves. Last year 2,618 new books were added to make a total of 13, 418 volumes. In short the library is moving ahead rapidly in its efforts to provide the people of Scugog with the best service and widest possible selection of reading material. But there is a serious problem developing. With the increase in services and the number of people using the library, the physical space of the building is no longer large enough to accommodate the growth. In fact, the present building on Queen Street, which was constructed in 1934 is woefully inadequate. The two rooms, on the main floor and in the basement, are lined with book shelves. Reading space is limited to a couple of tables with seating for no more than 12 or 15 people at one time. It appears that the time has come for an expansion of the physical facilities. One should keep in mthd that the present library now serves all of Scugog Township with a population approaching 12,000 and growing steadily. Prior to regional government the library served the village of Port Perry with a population of about 3,000. Expansions cost money. 'However, there is land to the back of the present building that could be used. And grant money is available from the provincial bill A WORD FROM GOD editorial po smiley id government. A library is just as important to a community as an arena, ball diamonds or play- grounds. : With- municipal elections slated for this fall, maybe one of our political hopefuls will work the idea of an expanded library into his (or her) campaign. It might be one way of finding out what the people think of the idea. The library, after all, does belong to the - people of Scugog. Education Costs There are some 47,000 students within the Durham Board of Education and it's going ot cost $78,667,700 to educate them this year, according to the budget passed by the Board Monday night. That's a staggering amount, especially to the average family who are used to thinking in terms of the weekly grocery bill. Co Of that $78 million, local property owners in Durham will pay $34.4 million, which will increase taxes on an average home by about 4.7 per cent. In these times of inflation that increase is not a large one and certainly within an acceptable range. ' 9 . Ontario's education system is not faultless by an means. But it is considered one of the best, anywhere. To maintain even the current standards, local taxpayers are going to have to carry more and more of the share of education costs. The writing is on the wall, and figures within the budget show that the direct contribution by the ¥ province is declining, from a high of 62 per cent in 1972 to 54.5 per cent this year. That downward spiral is expected to continue and it can only mean higher and higher local taxes. Coupled with the 37.5 per cent increase in OHIP fees, it is obvious that the present government of Ontario is deadly serious when it says that the glory days of free-wheeling spending are over. If the taxpayers want the services, they're going to have to pay for them, directly. : d Ll Last fall, when it rained for 40 days and 40 nights and then began to snow for about a similar spell, I received a couple of pretty stern letters from readers." One was from an elderly gentleman, the other from a clergyman. Both excoriated me, in their different ways, for being blasphemous. Cause of their concern was a pair of columns in which I suggésted to the Almighty that we'd had enough preci- pitation, and He could stop dumping it on us any time. The E.G. wrote a cross letter to his editor and sent me a copy. The preacher wrote me a long, personal letter, telling me I shouldn't be so "chummy'* with God. - He offered to pray for me, and sent along a .. modern version of .the Bible, containing . such words as '"'booby-traps," which rather alarmed me, accustomed as I am to the austere and dignified King James Version. Well, I wrote some pretty bitter columns about the Canadian winter. But after six straight weeks of glorious, clear, sunny weather, I'm beginning to wonder who is right, me or my critics. : Maybe the Lord does read my column, probably on one of His frequent lunch breaks. I didn't pray to Him for some decent weather. I told him rather snapp- ily, that we were fed up with what He was dishing up. He didn't strike me down with a thunderbolt, although I noticed my arth- ritis became pretty keen there for a few weeks. Maybe the Lord mused, something like this: "By Jove, maybe Bill Smiley is. right. Maybe I did forget to turn off the taps there for a few months. It wouldn't be the first time. I remember a few years back that business of Noah and his family. I clean forgot about them until it was nearly too late, "I get so darn sick of people praying for better health, better crops, more money, happiness, and their own worthless hides when they're in a jam that I sometimes turn off My hearing aid. I'm supposed to see the little sparrow fall, so maybe I should pay attention when a smalltown columnnist goes out of. his way to remind. - me that there is a lot more than sparrows falling, and a lot too much of it. "I'll let him sweat it out for another couple of weeks, just show him that you ° don't challenge My will with impunity. Then I'll turn on the sun for a solid six weeks, making the scoffers realize that the day of miracles is not past. Six weeks of sunshine in a Canadian winter! That beats walking on water any day. "Just for the Hegven of it, I'll dump some snow and wind and ice and rain on those fatcats who go south every winter, and let those Canadians who stayed home, not exactly my chosen people, but at least TIA OO RA 'my frozen people, write nasty letters south, telling their relatives of the blue skies, radiant sun, and crystal air back home. '"'Smiley's going to have to pay for it, of course. He might as well find out, once and for all, that you don't get chummy or cocky with Me. That's a special sphere reserved for preachers and 'politicans. "Let's see. No use increasing his arthritic pain or his backache. That only drives him to blasphemy, and We don't want to encourage that. I could wreck his golf shot. But that wouldn't work either. It's already so lousy he'd never even notice it. "No, it has to be something more subtle: .Maybe I .could put a bug in his wife's ear, . and have her drag him out of bed at seven every morning and share the agonies of that half-hour of exercise she does with that dame on the TV. That would ruffle him more than somewhat. "But it's not enough. It wouldn't be clear to him that I am an almighty, omnipotent, fierce and vengeful God. He'd probably think it was merely his wife being obnoxious. And he'd claim he couldn't do the exercises with his bad back and his bad neck and his bad shoulder and his bad knee. "I could always rot the rest of his teeth, which are pretty well ready for the bone- yard, anyway. At least he'd suffer the humiliation of going around drooling and-. gumming his food for a while. But with these blasted modern dentists, he'd soon be going around with a fistful of big, white attractive molars, and thinking he could start smiling at women again. "Nope, it's got to be something that would really get to him. I could easily have him fired from his job for vagrancy, bad shuffleboard, mopery, gawk and not preparing lesson plans. He's guilty of all and each of them. But it wouldn't do. | He's so lazy I think he'd enjoy being fired. And he'd go straight on unemployment insurance. "Got it! It will hit where it hurts. I'll turn his grandsons against -him:- I'll make them see that he's spoiling them rotten warping their characters, that he swears, drinks, smokes, gambles, and is altogether a most reprobate and unfit grandfather. "But ... would it take? They don't really care if he drinks, smokes, etc. They need him for running across the room and jumping on. They need him for kisses when they hurt themselves. They couldn't care less if he were Old Nick himself, as far as morals go. "Ah, well. I guess I'll just have to let him " go to hell in his own inimitable way. That's punishment enough for anyone." The Argyle Syndicate Ltd. IX maa