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A common room is a shared space in facilities like college dorms, hostels, and hospitals where residents can gather for recreation and socializing. The concept of a shared space has been used for centuries, and some English universities have student organizations called common rooms.
A common room is a shared space in a facility where many people live. While residents may have individual rooms for sleeping and living in such facilities, they may not include areas for recreation or socializing due to limited space. A shared space allows residents to gather together at will and often includes amenities such as a television, a small library, and sofas and chairs. Facilities with common rooms include college dormitories, hostels and medical institutions. The phrase is also used to describe student organizations at some universities.
In English, the word common has been used for hundreds of years to indicate a shared space. For example, many British villages had town commons, town centers or parks that were open for use by any local resident. Although they are no longer as widespread as they once were, some still remain in the 21st century. The famous Boston Common in Massachusetts is an example, now a public park. A common room follows a similar concept, being open to all residents of a facility, and sometimes guests as well.
A college dorm is a good example of a facility with a common room. Dorms are generally small and austere, with basic amenities but no space to relax or socialize. Some dorms may also have restrictions against outside guests in single rooms. Students can gather in common rooms to watch TV, socialize or even study. Some shared spaces will include bathrooms and kitchen areas, allowing students alternatives to remaining cloistered in their rooms.
Hostels, simple accommodations for travelers, are usually set up in a dormitory structure that includes a common room. Hotels sometimes have similar areas in or near their lobbies, although amenities are often limited and the areas cannot be identified as common rooms. Hospitals, military barracks and even prisons may also have common rooms; in these cases, residents are often not allowed to leave the building, and the common room may be their only alternative to a cramped space. These areas are sometimes referred to by other names, such as day or meeting rooms.
In English universities, as well as some in America, Canada and Australia, the common room is a name for a student organization. These groups maintain aspects of students’ everyday lives that do not fit into the educational curriculum. They are usually divided into junior, middle and senior common rooms, although they do not always correspond to the academic levels by these names. These organizations were named after the common rooms where they originally met, and the names remained even after the groups expanded beyond the scope of the first meeting areas.
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