A question which is occupying the thought of Christian Science churches in some of the larger cities today deals with the maintenance and the extent of the usefulness and activities of the Reading Rooms which they jointly operate. That Reading Rooms adequately located and properly equipped are important is indicated by the By-Law, Article XXI, Section 1, of The Mother Church Manual. With the growth of our movement, it has come about that some of the newer branch churches are located in outlying districts adjacent to large cities and, perhaps, they join with the older churches in operating single Reading Rooms in the down-town centers. Unless, how-ever, provision is made for jointly maintaining a down-town Reading Room, possibly a single church in the business district has the burden of providing adequately for a comparatively more expensive Reading Room, and one that has larger attendance and greater requirements.
In the By-Law referred to, Mrs. Eddy included a provision for the jointly operated Reading Room; and coupled with this provision we find guidance in her words ''provided these rooms are well located." Thus for many years it has been the practice in the larger cities to maintain downtown Reading Rooms which are jointly supported by branch churches of the community, even though these churches have separate Reading Rooms in their own districts. If the needs of the field are fully cared for by the Reading Rooms that are jointly operated, then the separate Reading Rooms may not always be requisite; but in one large city of this country Mrs. Eddy expressed the wish that the branch churches have Reading Rooms in their local districts in addition to the one centrally located. In this case, it appeared that more Reading Rooms were required to care for the large field to be served.
To be attractive and suitable, Reading Rooms need not necessarily be expensively furnished. Too much cannot be said of the importance of having Christian Science Reading Rooms properly managed by competent librarians, as well as adequately equipped with Christian Science literature and facilities for those who wish to study that which will relieve distress and replace depression with confidence and spiritual joy.
