A Passion for Education... and for Her Community

Salwa Ferahian, BA’80, MLS’83, knows a thing or two about giving. The Public Services Librarian has worked in McGill’s Islamic Studies Library for over 40 years, helping countless students improve their research skills and succeed in their studies. And for most of those years, she has been a loyal annual donor to McGill, as well as a tireless volunteer.

Her dedication “comes from the heart” and from a love of McGill. “It’s such an international place. And the students are so intelligent,” she says.

Ferahian visited Canada from England with her family as a high school student in 1961. She immigrated to Canada in 1963 and joined McGill a year later, working for 17 years as a library assistant in the Islamic Studies Library. She completed her BA in Canadian Studies as a part-time student, maintaining her job at the library, while hitting her own books during lunch hours. After she earned a Master of Library Science at McGill, she became a librarian, who today has 37 published papers to her name.

“I have a passion for education and for Canada,” she says. “If you really know about your country, then you belong. And you want to make it a better place.”

These are no mere words for Ferahian. She has contributed to Centraide as a donor and a volunteer for 12 years. She has volunteered at the Lindsay Rehabilitation Hospital(formerly the Montreal Convalescent Hospital Centre). And she has worked for 12 years as a caller for the McGill Alma Mater Fund Phonathons and Alumni Association Thankathons, including the past seven years as team captain.

As a librarian and a graduate school lecturer in McGill’s Institute of Islamic Studies, Ferahian takes great pleasure in helping students, whether in her day-to-day duties or in the specialized guidance she provides graduate students, helping them navigate the rich resources of one of the most significant collections of Islamic Studies materials in the Western world.

Ferahian’s annual gifts to McGill have provided essential ongoing funding for vital areas, such as Friends of the Library, the School of Information Studies, the Centre for Research and Teaching on Women, and scholarships and student aid. “Anything you can do to help is so important,” she stresses.

While Ferahian acknowledges she is very giving by nature, she feels strongly that McGill has contributed much to her own life. “As much as I’m giving, McGill has given me more.”