Article July 13, 2009 Issue

my current career? reading room librarian

A young librarian shares her journey.

BY AME SCHNEIDER

CHRISTIAN Science Reading Rooms have always been part of my life. As a kid, I loved visiting on Saturdays when my parents would staff our local Reading Room. In high school, I would go to a Reading Room after school and wait for my parents to pick me up. It was fun to browse through the literature, and read about people being healed through Christian Science.

When I graduated from college with a degree in biology, I didn't think I'd become a Reading Room librarian—or that it would become a full-time job. Yet, looking back over the last couple of years, I feel that every experience I've had, in some way, has prepared me for this position.

It began with the first job I had after college, working as a kayak guide. Not knowing anybody who lived in the area, I wrote to the local Christian Science branch churches asking if I could rent a room from one of their members. I ended up renting from a lovely couple.