The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-05-12
REJUVENATING A
 COUNTRY TOWN How Leadership and Social Center Succeeded.
tRx Arthur P. Kellogg.1
(Exclusive Service The Survey
 Press Bureau.o

the village of K for many years had failed to make any real pro- gress. Similar conditions pre- vail in hundreds of other com munities in our country. They call for leadership and many of our young men who have the vis- ion and the personality and who are looking about for the best way to invest their lives might well consider the small town as a field of service. On account of the intimate relationship a man has with the people of a small community it is possible for him through leadership in a few years to transform an entire vfl- lage.
 That this con be done is shown by the Memorial Library in the village of K. The library was the gift of prominent man and his wife who saw the need and gave the building to be used as a social center for the commun- ity. The work was started 8 lit tie over five years ago.
 The Social Center,
 The Memorial Library ir- cIudese a. welI-Ighted and ven tiIated auditorium, accommodat- ing about 200 people. Here en- tertainInents, fairs and socials are held. Glasses in physical clll- ture for both boys and girls are conducted during the winter months. On two evenings a week the people are entertained with the best motion pictures. This serves to keep in their home community the young people who had been in the habit of mfgrat- ing to neighboring towns for these pleasures. A room con taining a. billiard table and oth- CT games attracts the young men and keeps them from places that are of morally destructive char acter. Practically every boy and girl in the village is found at the library during the time 1t is open for their use.
 4 room with showers and . bafhtuo was added to the equip ment about two years ago and is used by the women and girls on specified days as we'll as by the men and boys. A manual train ing shop forms a part of the equipment of the Memorial Li- brary. Boys from twelve to six teen years of age have been in structed in making useful ar IlC1CS O1 141AALA1 c. Cooking School Serves Commun-
 ity Banquet.
 y A domestic science room with every facility for efficient and systematic work in sewing and cooking Is included. The girls thoroughly enjoy the work and carry the training into their homes One year the girls con ducted a. fair and from the sale of articles realized a considerable sum which they usedsto pay their instructor in physical work. At a, community banquet. the first of it's kind ever held in the village. the catering was done by the girls in the dom estic science class. For several years the domestic science and the manual training work has been part of the school cur riculum.
 The children are being educat- ed to thrift and economy by a savings system which has been introduced For several years a number of the village boys have attended a county camp and have been influenced for good through the comradeship and the influence of the other boys. One summer
 
 During the past summer a. ten acre lot within a quarter of mile of the village was rented and used for a. playground. The playground contained a baseball diamond and a basketPa1l and tennis court. A cottage was built on the grounds and the secretary and his family lived here all summer giv- ing supervision to the work at all times On the Fourth of July. a big home day was held on the grounds with band music, base ball between two rival teams and other attractions
 Before the new agency came into the life of the village of K a spirit of depression seemed to permeate the entire community. The inhabitants were discouraged. It was under such conditions that the Memorial Library was opened
 Start of Civic Improvement.
 In the first year of the work a village improvement committee was organized. This was appoint ed from the representative men of the village and residents of the surrounding estates who gladly responded when approached for financial assistance The first thing the committee decided upon was to light the streets with cleo tricity. It was thought that the taxpayers would not assume this expense until they had seen the great Improvement the lights would make in the streets. The committee had the lights install ed and forAtwo years met the ex- pense through. public subscrip- ton. The amount they were obliged to raise was $1.50o. The third year 8, lighting district was estab lished and practically every taxpayer signed the petition to have the lights paid for through taxation
 One of the greatest needs of the village was a water supply. For five years the committee tried to solve this problem and recent ly it's 1abors have been rewarded. A company supplying water to a. village three miles distant has been induced to extend its mains to the village of K. A fire com pany is to be organized with its home in the Memorial Library.
 One of the churches had been struggling for years with debt. The secretary of the Memorial Library offered to cooperate in 8 canvass to pay off the entire in