By DAVID BORROWMAN

It would be a serious disservice if we were led to believe that a no vote on Dec. 5 will support Rainbow Road for the new library site.

Some will conscientiously vote no in the referendum because of the $2.75 million expense.

But I hope none will believe that a no vote will support a library anywhere but in Ganges.

The most recent community plan, and all its predecessors, support a central site for the library.

Moving to Rainbow Road would require amending the plan, and there is no reason to think that would happen.

Nor should it happen. For one thing, no less than a public referendum has reinforced the longstanding preference for a library in a central location.

Under the headline “Rainbow Site Still Better,” Mr. Nick Hodson’s article makes what I hope is deservedly the last gasp of an argument for a new library on Rainbow Road.

The case for Rainbow Road was made sensibly for a time and understandably still appeals to some.

But still, the majority of islanders decided at a referendum that they prefer the present location.

Events have now moved on appropriately, and we have a very real proposal in front of us for the current location.

As for the argument that the library board are now presenting us with a fait accompli — I can feel the rising exasperation of library supporters without so much as picking up the phone. The logical result of the referendum was a specific grant proposal for the current library site.

The library board could no more apply for two proposals, one of which might happen on an alternate site for which legal zoning was lacking, than they could apply for a library, or maybe a hockey rink if that didn’t work.

Mr. Hodson casts a skeptical eye on the $4.55 million grant, preferring that our tax dollars be spent elsewhere.

But they will be spent, and we should perhaps not imagine that Salt Spring will be better off if a deserving community elsewhere in Canada gets its new library.

Surely the point is that by supporting expenditure of tax dollars locally we are seeing value for money.

As for Rainbow Road, a grant which pays over 60 per cent of the cost for a new library makes any Rainbow Road alternative look expensive.

Unless, that is, we are thinking of a Quonset hut at that location.

I will vote yes in the referendum, both to support the library, as does Mr. Hodson, and to reinforce the principle that the library is a core institution that belongs in the heart of our village.

And yes, Mr. Hodson, core institutions do require valuable parking.

It’s just a matter of where you put your values.

The alternative is not Rainbow Road. If we vote no on December 5, the alternative will, eventually, be a new proposal for the present site.

That will not happen for years, until a fresh round of energy and new people can be brought to the cause. And it will happen without $4.55 million in grants.

The writer is a photographer and former islands trustee for Salt Spring.