4. Lack of a leader and a greater lack of followers. 5. In an organization embracing the entire public there is not enough the sense of ours" to give the necessary cohesion. It soon dies by indifference and falling away of members. 6. An organization just to talk in public dies, for soon all have said their say except the born bore. II. SUGGESTIONS FOR OVERCOMING THE DIFFICULTIES. 1. Organize a community center to be made up of all the people of the community, and then let this be divided into clubs of about 15 members each. These clubs should consist of people who naturally affiliate and are or can be interested in the same subjects. 2. There should be, even in a small village, four clubs, two of men and two of women. There should then be a federation of these clubs to hold joint meetings once in two months. The clubs should meet every two weeks. 3. These should be study and working clubs; having something to learn and something to do. In Illinois a package of books on any subject may be obtained by paying transportation from the State library extension board. 4. The federation can arrange for the discussion of public questions by speakers of note or by themselves. 5. Little headway can be made in any special social undertaking without refreshments to arouse sociability. The clubs should meet at the homes of members and refreshments should be a feature at least once a month. 6. Much depends upon a capable leader for the federation and for the several clubs. 7. This work will not come by spontaneous generation. The Nation or the State must send out organizers and furnish suggestive plans, programs, courses of reading, etc. While the foregoing plan may not be ideal, from the fact that it contemplates the breaking up of a community into clubs, it may be the only practical way to solve the problem of having public questions discussed in some communities. The ideal way is for the whole village community to organize, but difficult to put into practical operation, from the fact that there are social lines of cleavage in every village that must be broken down before all will come together as a community. SUPERVISION OF SPECIAL SUBJECTS. In most villages there is but little supervision of the teaching of music, art, and other so-called special subjects. In fact they are not included in many village-school courses of study. How to provide supervision and expert teaching of these subjects is one of the problems of the village school. Several plans may be suggested. If there are three or four villages within a few miles of one another, they might jointly employ the special supervisors needed. These could spend a day or two each week in each town, the amount of time given depending upon the number of teachers at each place. This plan has been found effective and economical. If the village school is under the control of a county board of education, this board should employ supervisors of music and other subjects. Where this plan is in operation, the supervisors go over the county visiting all schools under the control of the county board. Some townships also have the same plan. If a township is too small to employ special supervisors, several could jointly employ the supervisors needed. A plan successfully employed is that of departmentalizing the work of the elementary school so that the special subjects may be taught by special teachers. All the pupils report to one teacher for music, to another for art, and so on. Arithmetic, history, geography, and the other subjects not considered special are taught by the regular classroom teacher. The following program for a sixth grade illustrates how the plan may be worked out in practice: 8.45 9.30. Home economics, manual training, Monday, Wednesday; physical training, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. 9.30-10.15. Drawing, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday; home economics and manual training, Monday and Wednesday; double periods for home economics and manual training. Second 90 minutes. 10.15 to 11.45 a. m. 6A. Regular classrooms. 10.15-11.45. Spelling, arithmetic, geography, as for 6B. 6B. Special rooms. 11.00-11.45. Same as for 6A in first 90-minute period. AFTERNOON. First 80 minutes. 1.00 to 2.20. 6B. Regular rooms. 1.00-1.40. Arithmetic-40 minutes. 1.55-2.20. History-25 minutes. 6A. Special rooms. 1.00-1.40. Composition. 1.40-2.00. Music. 2.00-2.20. Physiology and hygiene. Second 80 minutes. A. Regular rooms. 2.20-3.40. Reading, writing, and history, as for 6B in first period. 3B. Special rooms. 2.15-3.40. Same as for 6A in first period. A study of this program shows that while the B division of a grade is in the regular classroom during the first 90-minute period, the A division is having work with the special teachers. The program is reversed for the second 90-minute period. Similar programs can be worked out for each of the other grades. No supervisors are needed if the teachers of the special subjects are skilled. If the county board does not provide supervisors, and if it is not possible for several villages to employ jointly the necessary supervision, the special subjects may be well taught by the departmental plan just outlined. THE VILLAGE LIBRARY. Comparatively few villages have libraries accessible to the general public. Mr. Harlan Douglass says: The library itself as a public institution is not existent in most of the little towns. There are less than, 2,000 in the entire United States, and four-fifths of their readers live in the North Atlantic and North Central States. In many villages there are a few books in the school building for the use of the pupils, but as a rule these books are inferior, not adapted to the age of the pupils, and they are seldom used. In many village communities the churches formerly had Sunday school libraries, but this plan proved a failure in most instances from the fact that the books were poorly selected. The real depository of the village library is the public school. If the school is to serve the community, there should be a library room full of books not only for children but for adults. There should be children's stories, fiction, history, biography, books of travel, and books on farming and other Vocations. If there is a county library, the village library should be a branch of it. If there is no county library, the local school board or the county board should make appropriations each year for library maintenance. In some village communities it is almost a hopeless task to introduce a library, because the people have not formed the reading habit. If the teachers interest the children in reading, it will be comparatively easy to have them cooperate in raising funds to purchase books. Many, in fact the majority, of village school libraries were started with funds raised by entertainments. This plan will no doubt have to be used for some time in many communities. If the school board does not make appropriations, there is no other way except by private donations. The plan of having books donated can not be recommended, since so few persons have books suitable for a school library. The books should be purchased by the principal and teachers, with the advice of some librarian familiar with the needs of a village community. If the library is to be popular, books in which children and adults are interested must be provided. The first money raised for a library, especially if the amount is small, should be expended for books to read rather than for encyclopædias, compendiums, and books of useful facts. These are necessary, but as a rule they should not be purchased with the first library money. Reference books should be provided out of regular school funds, and most school boards can be induced to purchase such books, while it is rather difficult to persuade them to purchase story books and other reading material that appeal to children. The village library should be open to adults of the community as many hours in the week as possible. The library room should be a reading room where there are current magazines. One of the teachers could act as librarian during the school year. The library should be open during the vacation period, but if it is not possible to have it open every day, one or two days a week could be designated as library day. If the principal of schools is employed for the entire year, as he should be, he could act as librarian several times a week. If the school board will not provide funds to keep the library open during vacation, it might be possible to have some of the citizens donate funds for this purpose. Village school principals and teachers should, however, make it emphatic that the school library is an essential part of a school and should be supported by public funds. THE SCHOOL TERM. The usual school term in villages is eight or nine months. In several States the term provided by public funds is insufficient to keep the schools open more than six or seven months, but in many instances a tuition fee and donations are necessary to make it possible to continue the term several months longer. This is a deplorable condition, but true nevertheless. The village school term should be at least 9 months-11 would be better-and should be the ideal toward which to work. In most villages there is nothing in particular for the children to do during the summer months. This is especially true in mining and manufacturing communities. In the farming sections the older boys and girls assist with farm and house work, but the younger children are idle. In such communities the school term could be extended for the primary grades at least. Gardening under the direction and supervision of the schools would be more practical. More play could be introduced. Field excursions would be feasible. School during the summer months would not necessarily mean that the children. would have to sit at their desks six hours a day. Where summer schools have been conducted the health of the children has not suffered. The schoolrooms are ventilated naturally. There is no artificially heated air. No arguments can be offered against a long term, except that the expense of maintaining a school term of 10 months will be greater than for a term of 8 months. BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS. There is no distinct type of village school architecture. It frequently happens that village school buildings in design do not compare favorably with some of those in the rural districts of the same county. A majority of the very old buildings are almost hidden by the numerous additions that have been from time to time built about them. Many of these old buildings should have been torn down or abandoned when the first additions were proposed. They now make uncomfortable quarters for the children and are poorly heated, ventilated, and lighted. They are inconvenient for the teacher in her classroom work and are also veritable fire traps that should be condemned by the State authorities. The farmer who moves into the village from the farm usually objects to the high taxation necessary to maintain the village schools, and for that reason village schools in growing villages have been built to accommodate only the present enrollment, with no outlook for the increased enrollment in the years to come. In any growing village this is poor economy and means trouble for the future boards of education. Every bond issued for the purpose of building a new school building will invariably increase the taxation. Every effort should then be made to consolidate the districts near the village and extend the district lines that the village may become a center of a larger area with an increased valuation, which will |