operated and the possibility of securing the united support of the whole
community for it are essential if it is to be permanently successful as
a "community home."

Because of the limitations of school, church, and grange hall, many
communities are now planning to erect "community buildings"[67] in which
all the "leisure-time activities" of the whole community may be
centered. The community building will usually include an auditorium with
stage for entertainments and dramatics, which is often used for a
gymnasium or basketball, a kitchen and dining room, a game room,
possibly a library room, and such other features as may be practicable.
In older communities there are often more buildings than are being used.
Unused churches may well be converted to community buildings with
relatively small expense. The advent of prohibition and good roads has
driven many village hotels out of business and their buildings are in
some cases suitable for conversion into community buildings and may be
purchased at much below cost. Some sort of organization must be the
owner of a community building and assure its support, and it would seem
that if the building is to be truly a community affair it should be
operated by the community as such. In some states legislation has been
passed permitting the township, or any voluntary tax district, to erect
and operate a community building, and many such buildings are in
successful operation. In other cases, it will be desirable to form some
sort of community organization, which is open to all members of the
community and which represents all of the organizations and interests
which may use the building, for its erection and control.

Thus rural play and recreation which formerly centered in the
neighborhood, is now being organized on a community basis, and the
increased interest in adequate facilities for play and recreation is, in
last analysis, an effort of the rural community to defend its integrity
against the lure of its people by the city. Just as in their economic
life and in their educational system rural people are compelled to act
together as a community if they are to compete with the advancing
standards of the city, so play and recreation is also becoming a concern
of the whole community.

FOOTNOTES:

[58] See his "The Meaning of Infancy."

[59] "The Play of Man." Translated by Elizabeth L. Baldwin. New York,
1901.

[60] "Play in Education."

[61] See Abigail F. Halsey, The Hi