Does inclusion of books in Library collections imply endorsement?

One of our patrons recently shared a promotional email that she had received. It advertised a book on Christian Science and included this statement: “This book has been accepted into the Mary Baker Eddy Library in Boston, MA.” She asked if it was true that the book was indeed in our collections.

The Library often receives unsolicited copies of books and articles related to Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science. As part of our mission, we include these materials in our collections. However, the act of inclusion does not indicate any endorsement of their contents. 

The Library’s reference collection includes both sympathetic and critical publications. We strive to be a trusted and authoritative source for information on Eddy and the history of the Christian Science movement. We receive many hundreds of inquiries each year, and whenever we are asked about a given publication, it’s important to have it on hand, so that we can provide the most accurate response possible.

Eddy herself faced questions about publications on Christian Science that she had not written, overseen, or endorsed. In her primary work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, she said this:

The first edition of SCIENCE AND HEALTH was published in 1875. Various books on mental healing have since been issued, most of them incorrect in theory and filled with plagiarisms from SCIENCE AND HEALTH. They regard the human mind as a healing agent, whereas this mind is not a factor in the Principle of Christian Science. A few books, however, which are based on this book, are useful.¹