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THE BOOK SHELF 



The Community Center. L. J. Hanifan, State Supervisor of Rural Schools,. 

 West Virginia. (Teacher Training Series). Published by Silver, Burdett 

 & Company. 214 pages. 



This book is a comprehensive manual on the subject of community center 

 development, especially adapted to the needs of teachers in rural communities 

 where conditions naturally indicate the teacher as the person, generally the 

 only person, fitted to take the initiative in community activities. The author 



says in the preface: " the book undertakes to present some of the more 



important rural life problems, particularly as regards rural social life and recrea- 

 tion, and to offer suggestions as to how the teacher, by means of the school as a 

 community center, may contribute very largely to the solution of these 

 problems." A predecessor of this volume, "A Handbook for Community 

 Meetings in Rural Schoolhouses," by the same author, met with the approval 

 of Commissioner Claxton and was made available for distribution to county 

 superintendents throughout the United States. 



The book fulfills admirably the modest promise set forth in its preface. It is 

 a welcome addition to the limited number of publications on community 

 activities and is unique in the field it covers. A selection from the table of 

 contents will give an idea of the scope of the work. "The Community Center 

 and the World War," (the tremendous impulse given by the war to the com- 

 munity center idea); "Leadership and the Community Center;" "Social 

 Capital — its Deveopment and Use;" "The Community Center as an Aid to- 

 Teaching;" "First Steps in the Community Center;" "Special School Pro- 

 grams;" "Miscellaneous Activities within the Community Center." No phase 

 of the subject is left untouched. An excellent bibliography completes the book 



B. W. L. 



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