Article January 1, 1949 ISSUE

Extracts from Reports on Their Service to College Students

Our Reading Room window displays have brought many inquiries about Christian Science from college students. Classwork and discussions on the campus have also brought young people to the Reading Room to inquire about Mary Baker Eddy and her work, and how the world has acknowledged her. One young man who was writing a theme about Mrs. Eddy for a course he was taking was delighted to find in the foreword of "Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy" Mark Twain's reversal of his earlier statements. He was so much pleased with this book that he was referred to the biography of Mrs. Eddy by Dr. Lyman P. Powell. He learned a great deal, he said, from these two authorized volumes on our Leader's life.

Members of the Christian Science Organization on the campus make systematic use of the Reading Room for individual study, and some of them find the study room a convenient place in which to work out the Bible Lessons in the Christian Science Quarterly.

Advertising of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy and our Reading Room in the local paper has led to sales of the textbook and of the Church Manual to college students. Some students come in each week for the new Sentinel, while others come when new Quarterlies are needed.

Our Reading Room is directly across the street from the university campus, so our two large display windows often attract students. At times, three or four have been noted reading at the same window. As a result of this interest we have many inquiries about Christian Science, the textbook, the other literature in the window, and quite often about The Christian Science Monitor.

A university student who had known nothing of Christian Science attended a lecture given by the organization on the campus. She came directly to the Reading Room to borrow a copy of Science and Health. When she returned a few days later, she bought the pamphlet reprint "Christian Healing" by Mrs. Eddy and several other pamphlets. She has since visited the study room regularly to read our Leader's writings and other Christian Science literature.

Several inquiries about Christian Science have proved results of the lectures which have been given by the organization.

A veteran who became interested in Christian Science while he was in service is now attending the university on the G.I. Bill and is studying at our Reading Room. He brought another student, who was almost antireligious, to the Reading Room. Now that young man is also studying.

We know that this Reading Room is doing much in the way of keeping university men and women interested in Christian Science and also alert to the value of regular study, and that the use of our study room is helping them to make use of Christian Science in a practical way.

Window displays in our ground–floor Reading Room have interested many university men and women in Christian Science, students taking both regular and summer courses. We believe that classroom comments and discussions have prompted others to come to inquire about the Monitor.

Members of the Christian Science Organization on the campus come regularly to this Reading Room and are encouraged to use all of our study facilities, including the lending library.

When we held our Reading Room open house last year, invitations were sent to as many university students as possible, and a notice was read at their organization meeting. We were happy to greet a number of students on that occasion and to be able to direct them to many study helps, such as concordances, dictionaries, and the bound volumes of the Christian Science periodicals.

We find that more and more university men and women with an interest in Christian Science are calling at the Reading Room. Wives from near–by veterans' housing units stop to read and purchase. Often one brings an interested friend.

College students whose homes are in Denmark and France, as well as those from many parts of the United States, have made use of our study room. A student from France has been in a number of times to read The Christian Science Monitor. He seemed interested to know that a religion was responsible for the publication of an international daily newspaper and expressed appreciation of the editorials and the unbiased news reporting found in each Monitor.

Our Reading Room has a ground–floor location, and Monitor window displays are changed daily with the purpose of attracting the attention of university people, as well as business men and women.

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