4 BULLETIlir 825, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



taimnents of various kinds, the proceeds of which go into the con- 

 struction fund; and a part of the amount required to pay the cost of 

 construction is often borrowed on the security of the building itself, 

 to be repaid later with money derived from dues, assessments, or 

 rentals. Contributions of labor or materials, as well as of cash, are 

 often received. Where funds are secured through the sale of stock, 

 the incorporated stock company of course owns or controls the build- 

 ing; and where funds are secured through general contributions the 

 ownership and control rest with a permanent community organization 

 formed for the purpose. 



GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE BUILDING. 



The simplest of these buildings, often found in the open country, 

 generally contain, first, an auditorium, the movable seats of which 

 permit it to be transformed into a dining room, an athletic room, or 

 a hall for dancing; second, a stage, with curtains and dressing rooms 

 for theatricals; third, a kitchen, equipped with stove, utensils, dishes, 

 and cutlery. Often the assembly room is on the first floor and the 

 kitchen and a separate dining room in the basement. Farmers' 

 buildings frequently contain special rooms for the use of cooperative 

 economic enterprises. 



In the smaller towns, besides these rooms there are often a library 

 and reading room, a game room, a women's rest room, and rooms 

 which serve as meeting places for various organizations. 



In the county seats and larger towns the buildings are often 

 quite complete, having besides the usual rooms an offi.ce room, 

 special rooms for banquets, a cafe, a gymnasium, billiard and 

 bowling rooms, an agricultural exhibit room, and rooms for the 

 county agricultural agent, the county home demonstration agent, 

 the visiting nurse, and the secretary of the commercial club. Com- 

 munity buildings provided by town or county government also con- 

 tain rooms for the different officials, the post office, and sometimes a 

 social room for the fire department. 



Equipment in these buildings varies from the plain chairs and 

 tables, stove, cooking utensils and dishes, and organ of the simpler 

 structures, to the fine furniture, opera chairs, stage scenery, gym- 

 nastic, bowling, billiard, athletic and game-room apparatus, books 

 and magazines, piano, moving-picture machine, and first-aid facili- 

 ties of the finer ones. Those in the open country are generally 

 heated by stoves, lighted by oil or gas lamps, procure water from 

 their own pumps, and have outside toilets, while those in the towns 

 have furnace heat, electric lights, running water, inside toilets, and 

 hot and cold baths. 



The sites in both town and country range from a size little larger 

 than the building to one of several acres. Those with the larger 



