new_contents: 
  
  
  import os
  
  def load_file(filename, default_ext=".???"):
      file_lines = []
  
      # add presumed extension
      if not filename.endswith(default_ext):
          filename = filename + default_ext
  
      # save a path to the file for use later
      # file_path = os.path.dirname(filename)
      # this would be helpful if processing includes
  
      with open(filename) as file:
          file_lines = [line.strip() for line in file]
  
      return file_lines
  
  
  
subject: create utils library