Approachability is the whole idea behind the successful new Reading Room of Second Church of Christ, Scientist, Palo Alto, California. Through it the church members show their community that Christian Science isn't something that needs to be hidden behind curtained windows but that it's a bright, exciting, outgoing, adventurous religion. They put this message across visually, and they back it up with a Reading Room staff that is spiritually alert, wise in its contacts with the public, and friendly.
The Reading Room looks inviting. It has lots of glass, and the front door is often left open. Some members wondered whether people would want to study there. Would it have too much of a "fishbowl" effect? But they had a bold idea, and they knew it was a right one. So it proved.
They designed the Reading Room for the people who live around it. It's not too far from Stanford University, located in a secondary shopping district next to an industrial park where there are many businessmen, a very nice neighborhood of blacks, and other people, and plenty of students. There's a good deal of foot traffic, and the street gets busier all the time. Because the district is highly populated with students and other young people, the study room was painted with "bright chunks of strong, pungent, vigorous, nourishing color." "Contemporary it certainly is!" says the librarian.
