Islamic Studies Library

We invite the attendees to take advantage of the the Islamic Studies Library during their visit to McGill University and also see the Shahnameh exhibit currently being held at the library.

The Islamic Studies library was founded, along with the Institute of Islamic Studies by Prof. Wilfred Cantwell Smith, in 1952. The library has grown from a modest departmental collection to a very well regarded library of over 150,000 volumes striving to cover the whole of Islamic civilization. This sizable and rich collection is quite unique in Canada. It is one of the 13 branches of the McGill Library and provides resources and services to support the teaching and research programs primarily of the Institute of Islamic Studies. The library is also a major resource for other McGill students and researchers in such areas as History, Political Science, and Comparative Religion, as well as bona fide researchers of other Quebec and Canadian universities. The library is located in the Morrice Hall building.

The Islamic Studies collection comprises materials in print, electronic and microfilm, manuscripts, serials and audio-visual materials in European and Islamic languages: English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Russian on the one hand, and Arabic, Persian, Turkish (Ottoman and modern), Urdu and Indonesian, on the other. The collection is primarily a reflection of the academic interests of the Institute, and teaching and research in Qur'anic Exegesis, Jurisprudence, Philosophy, Theology, History of Sciences, Sufism, Shi`ite Thought, Classical and contemporary Literature and History and Modern Developments in Muslim world.

The ISL has 992 periodical and serial titles, many of which are complete sets, no longer published or rare. Examples include: The Oriental Collections (London, 1797-1799), Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College Magazine (Aligarh), Ma'ârif (Azamgarh), and Ma'lûmât (Istanbul).

For more information please contact

Head Librarian: Anaïs Salamon (anais.salamon[at]mcgill.ca)

Reference Librarian: Sean Swanick (sean.swanick[at]mcgill.ca)

The hours for the week of the conference:

Monday to Thursday, April 25 - 28: 9:00 to 19:00

Friday April 29: 9:00 to 17:00

Saturday and Sunday, April 30 - May 1: Closed

Monday to Friday, May 2 - 6: 9:00 to 17:00

The address for the library:

3485 McTavish Street

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

H3A 1Y1