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Show lS..lr HARRIET MAY WIIW Community Buildings Probably no other equivalent expenditure ex-penditure of time and money could do so much for the average rural or small-town community as does the effort and cost involved in the building build-ing and maintenance of a community center. Just as a pleasant and cheerful home centers the life of the family, so a simple, usable community commu-nity building welds and focalizes the interests, the needs and the activities activi-ties of the community. NEEDS AND USES It is desirabe that people should provide in large measure at least their own amusements. It is not well that people seeking entertainment, entertain-ment, or relief from routine, should find it always in motion-picture theaters the-aters or other commercialized entertainment enter-tainment centers. Who can say how much native talent has remained undeveloped because young people, instead of putting on their own plays or building up their own dance orchestras or-chestras or operatic groups, have been content to go here or there just to see others perform? The local band, the local chorus, the local theater the-ater group can, and under suitable conditions will, serve as a developer of local talent, as a means of keeping keep-ing local money at home, and as a source of local pride and enjoyment. TYPES OF BUILDING The purpose for which the building build-ing will probably be used should be carefully considered when the type of building to be erected is being decided. Certainly, the building should be planned to cater to the needs of both the older and the younger members of the community; communi-ty; it should provide for the presentation presen-tation of local entertainments such as plays, pageants, Christmas and Thanksgiving celebrations, etc.; it should serve for the meeting of the grange or the farmers' club, for the 4-H groups, for the Ladies aid, for local institutes, and for home demonstration dem-onstration meetings; likewise, for political discussion groups and other community gatherings of local interest. inter-est. The minimum essentials for a building which is to be devoted to these diverse uses will be a large main room to be used as an auditorium, auditori-um, banquet hall, or dance hall, as occasion may require; a stage with adequate dressing rooms; and a kitchen where food may be pre-: pared; the whole to be supplied with good lighting, and with suitable heating and plumbing facilities. To these minimum requirements may be added, if funds permit, small rooms for the use of study groups, game rooms, and a nursery. LOCATING THE BUILDING If the community is one which centers around a small town, it will be desirable to locate the community communi-ty building in the town, since lights and plumbing will be more readily attainable there than elsewhere. If, however, the building is to serve the needs of a distinctly rural neighborhood neighbor-hood it can well be located near the local school, church, creamery, or other common gathering place, where the task of caring for it can be most easily done. FURNISHING THE BUILDING As a rule, by the time the build- ing is constructed, funds are low, and the problem of furnishing the rooms properly becomes a major one. Let it be said, therefore, that it is better to furnish sparsely, and wait until money is available for more equipment, rather than to buy things which are cheap and shoddy. Perhaps the best plan of all is for the patrons of the project to make their own furnishings, through various va-rious club projects, or else to give a series of entertainments of one sort and another to raise necessary funds. Simplicity, usefulness, and cheerfulness should be the major objectives ob-jectives sought in the furnishing of the building. MAINTENANCE The cost of the building may vary from an infinitesimal one, consisting consist-ing chiefly of donated local materials materi-als and labor, to as much as the community cares to invest. Some of the most useful and successful ones have been built with initial funds of less than $100, supplemented, supplement-ed, of course, by large community enthusiasm and co-operative labor. A very successful method of raising the necessary money is the sale of stock in very . small certificates, preferably, so that ownership and interest may be widespread. Costs of maintenance are usually met by the levying of local taxes. A manager, man-ager, and service committee, elected elect-ed yearly, transact all necessary business. For extensive tnormatioo relative to community buildings send ten cents to Superintendent ot Documents. W ashington, D. C. askiDg tor Farmers' Bulletin No. 1S04. THE HARE AND THE RABBIT To most people there is no difference differ-ence between the hare and the rabbit, rab-bit, though the fact is that they are two separate groups. The hares do not make burrows, but live in a sort of nest; they are long-eared and long-legged and run in long leaps, their hind legs being much longer than their fore legs. The rabbits have short ears and short legs; they make use of burrows for dwelling places; they are not capable of any extended burst of speed. Both hares and rabbits are rodents. |