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Times Advocate, 1996-07-31, Page 13Volunteers are credited with puIIing.veek-IongBibIe Schools together By Heather Mir T -A Reporter EXETER - Each summer, area churches organize Vacation Bible School for children in an effort to combine the teachings of Jesus with fun activities. Dashwood Zion Church is holding its Bible School from August 12 to 16 for .,hildren ages three to those entering grade 8. The theme of this year's school is "The Jesus Expedition," which explores five locations including the South American Jungle, the South Pole and the Egyptian Desert. Each of the places relate to a miracle and areas of the church will recreate the land children will visit. Bible Schools often use kits designed Area Vacation Bible Schools Caven Presbyterian Church Exeter August 19-23 Exeter Christian Reformed Church August 12 - 16 at30.11:30 a.m.• Ages S447 Dashwood Zion Church August 12-16 Crediton United Church August 12-16 Brucefield Church August 6-9 "Friendship Adventures with Jesus" Exeter United Church August 12-16 Centralia Faith Tabernacle August 19, 20, 21 6:30 p.m. to integrate religious teaching with activities that keep childrens' interest. Zion's Bible School has a scheduled lesson time as well as crafts, music, snacks and sports. More than 100 children are expected to participate in this active week. Five volunteer teachers and at least 10 helpers are credited with pulling the week together. "We count on moms that aren't working," said organizer Cathy Skinner, who claims interest has increased recently in Bible School, which is designed to introduce the concept of Jesus to children without a home church. These children have a chance to spend time with.kids who have heard about Jesus and hopefully provides a "growth experience." According to Judy Dougall, organizer of the Exeter United Church Vacation Bible School, Dougall, who agrees with Skinner that Vacation Bible School provides an opportunity for children who don't regularly attend church. The Exeter United Church Bible School runs from August 12 to 16 for children between the ages of three and 11. "It's an introduction to looking at the Bible," said Dougall. Last year approximately 53 children attended the program that has been run by the church for more than 20 years and was created by the volunteers who organize it. The program changes each year and the church invites the community to participate in the school. Joanne Pickering, one of the organizers for the Crediton United Church Vacation Bible School, says children are Cncouraged to learn Bible verses Abe c ttrCb will tyle a "autitmel't ag the Week -bt Se aPt C'lintoti to raja ifs - ." d tdi a „ 1du ,..� this year. The With is • 'program well -versed. comprised of youth and adult "There's no pressure for kids members who design a program at all," said Pickering, who was of crafts, games, music and a Bible School teacher for seven lessons around a central theme years. for area churches. The cost of Bible School is $6 This year's theme is "Into the per child or $18 per family. This Son", a space adventure that year's program, "Kingdom of the Son, A Prayer Safari," runs from August 12 to 16 and organizers anticipate 75 to 100 children will take part. "They learn a bit more about the Bible plus the fellowship," said Pickering, who added 15 to 20 volunteers make the program possible. uses Bible lessons as clues to where travel will take children in their search to find Jesus. Each day will open with a skit written by the team who will emerge from a spaceship. "It's gone over really well with area churches," said Zurich Vacation Bible School held July 8 to 12 was enjoyed by nearly 100 participants. This year's theme was ingdom of the Son - A Prayer Safari". Above, children participated in outdoor games and at right spent time indoors with crafts. Other activities included: Bible games, story telling, music and drama. Have any overdue library books? By Brenda Burke T -A Reporter EXETER - Helen Hodgins, the Exeter Public Library branch super- visor, has kept track of a lot of books during her 13 years at the li- brary - including overdue ones. Although she said the latest over- due book she's heard of at the branch is 10 years, she explained "the normal (overdue) period is a few days," adding, "sometimes we have to charge a maximum fine." On average, maximum fines of $10 are charged once a month. For the library's estimated 5,000 bor- rowers, 10 cents -a -day fines, which have held steady since Hodgins be- gan at the library, doubled across the county effective April 1 in or- der to compensate for cuts in gov- ernment funding. Most borrowers are willing to pay their fines, said Hodgins, al- though there are cases of books de- posited in the book drop by patrons who show up with payment a few months later, or even those who move away and never return the material. Library staff find they receive fines faster when they make phone calls to remind borrowers, usually starting calls one week after a book is due. They try to call once a week lilieter Public Library Branch Supervisor Helen Hodgins, at left, and patron Glenda Davis out th@ Selection of library books on Friday afternoon. and in some cases have to make several calls. If a book is lost or damaged, the borrower is charged the original price of the item. Early last year, Huron County li- braries went from a two-week bor- rowing time limit to a three-week system. "It's better for the patron(s) be- cause they have more time to read their book," explained Hodgins. Once a waiting list of 10 people is established, new and high - demand items are put on a one- week borrowing system. Of the Ex- eter Library's approximately 20,000 books, there may be four high -demand items at one time. Older and low -demand books, on the other hand, go in the library's June book sale. Remnants are sent to other library branch book sales and Goodwill. Some of these books have also been shipped to a woman in St. Marys who sells them to raise money for the Children's Wish Foundation. Hodgins claims during the lazy, hazy days of summer, "people are reading for pleasure," grasping books about romance, courtrooms, mysteries and thrillers. "We have a great variety of read- ers," she added, who have re- mained consistent in numbers over the years, due partly to the rising prices of books. For hardbacks, many have taken advantage of the library's interbranch borrowing system, which operates within the county, and the interJoan system, which lends between counties. Prior to three years ago, bor- rowing books between branches would take two to three weeks to process through headquarters in Clinton, whereas now a borrower may have the desired reading ma- terial within a week. The Clinton office purchases materials for town branches, or Branch 1 libraries, based on book orders filled out by each branch. "This year the book budget has been slashed," said Hodgins. "They try to give us the best sellers. Every town branch should have those.' Despite cutbacks, the Exeter library re- mains open 31 hours each week. Ac- cording to patron de- mand, the only change in hours has been a switch from opening Friday evenings to Friday mornings. Branch 2 or village libraries are open 15 hours each week and smaller Branch 3 libraries, such as the one in Centralia that was nearly closed in the spring, is open two to five hours each week. The Exeter library staffs one full- time, two part-time and, beginning in September, two year-round stu- dent pages rather than one, as was previously the case. Pages are usually students who are interested in working in the li- brary field and want to learn how the system works. They help with regular library duties such as shelv- ing, typing, computer work, shelf reading, circulation and advising readers. Although they don't play a part in the children's Story Hour for three and four -year-olds, they do help with Go For The Gold summer reading program for four to 10 - year -olds. "This year the book budget has been slashed. They try to give us the best sell- ers. Every town branch should have those." Depending on the interest generated, a mom's and tot's group may start up at the Exeter branch. At least 10 people are needed to get this program off the ground. The library's readings and children's en- tertainers have been eliminated dur- ing the past few years due to gov- ernment funding cuts. "With the cutbacks there doesn't seem to be a lot of money for extra frills," said Hodgins, who added al- though it is currently illegal to charge for library cards in Ontario, there is an attempt to change Mit policy in efforts to open the dvtx to user fees.