Shortly after I accepted an invitation to serve as librarian in my church's Reading Room, my husband asked me if I had bitten off more than I could chew. "No," I replied, "but I've bitten off more than I thought I had." The qualifications for this post are significant, as can be seen by looking in the Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy at Article XXI, Section 2. It's titled "Librarian," and referring to those who are in charge of Reading Rooms of The Mother Church, it says in part: "He or she shall have no bad habits, shall have had experience in the Field, shall be well educated, and a devout Christian Scientist."
If a newly appointed librarian feels somewhat overwhelmed, he or she needs to remember that only a mortal view of man imposes limits on our capabilities. Abilities are not personal possessions, for they have their source in God, the Giver of all good. Could our loving Father-Mother God, who imparts the unselfish desire to serve, fail to supply the abilities needed to fulfill the task? Of course not! So librarians can turn with confidence to the assurance expressed in Mrs. Eddy's statement "Working and praying with true motives, your Father will open the way." Science and Health, p. 326.
It's good to have Reading Room doors open for as many hours as possible so that those who are "hunger[ing] and thirst [ing] after righteousness" Matt. 5:6. may come to be fed.
