Education is in Gail Shirazi’s blood: her mother, father, aunt, daughter, nieces and nephews are all teachers. So it only makes sense that she devotes her days to informing and enlightening others.
“Learning, teaching or exposing people to information … really is very rewarding, and when you give back, you get back,” Shirazi said.
The Rockville resident is completing a half century of working for the Library of Congress in its Israel and Judaica section. Now retired, she still volunteers at the library once a week.
Shirazi is the recipient of the 2024 Fanny Goldstein Merit Award as a longtime member of the Association of Jewish Libraries. She also serves on the advisory board of Classrooms Without Borders, a Holocaust, Jewish and Israel education program in association with the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
Shirazi is also in her final week as president of Magen David Sephardic Congregation’s Sisterhood. After next week, she will continue as a board member responsible for event programming.
Tell me about your Jewish upbringing and background.
I grew up in Silver Spring and went to Temple Israel, was a member of [United Synagogue Youth], [B’nai B’rith Girls] and Habonim Dror Camp Moshava. I went to Israel for the first time in 1966 on a bar/bat mitzvah pilgrimage. I’ve always been active in the Jewish community. Then, we moved out here before Montgomery Mall was built. I remember when they laid the cornerstone for the [Bender] JCC.
I went to Montgomery Blair [High School] and then Churchill for 11th and 12th grade. Believe it or not, there were three Jewish kids in my class.
What brought you to start working at the Library of Congress?
I couldn’t get a job in my field. I had a master’s in international relations from Syracuse Maxwell School [of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and] couldn’t find a job. Somebody told me that they’re hiring at the Library of Congress, so I went and applied for a position as a secretary. [I] couldn’t type worth beans but the head of the section who interviewed me said, “You can learn to type a lot easier than you can learn Hebrew.” And I knew Hebrew from Hebrew school and trips to Israel.
In 1976, I started in the Hebrew section [of the library] as a secretary and bibliographic assistant secretary, and then I moved up and up until I was a full librarian dealing with Judaica and Hebraica. I loved it. I’m in the Israel and Judaica section, which takes care of purchases and cataloging.
What is most fulfilling about your professional work?
Meeting people, learning things and bringing education to other people. One good thing about doing programs at the library, it would bring Jews and non-Jews [to events]. Too often, we’re focused on educating our own community that is familiar with many things like the Holocaust. I worked very closely with the Czech Embassy to bring Holocaust films that they made in the Czech Republic; we did it for years. And when I did the program at the library, all kinds of people showed up.
When I did a program on Israeli Ethiopian Jewry, I had all kinds of people in attendance: Black, Israeli, African. It’s open to the public, so people from all over come, and it’s exposing Israel and Jewish life to the general community. That’s probably what’s most rewarding, and also the friendships I’ve made with not only my colleagues at the library and other Judaica librarians, filmmakers, scholars in all fields, government officials, just meeting all kinds of people with all kinds of specialties, and I learned along the way.
How did you feel about receiving the 2024 Fanny Goldstein Merit Award?
Shocked, surprised. Usually, people call me when they need to network out — librarians are very connected. And so when Rachel [Leket-Mor] called me, I said, “What can I do for you?” And when she told me I won the award, my answer was, “Why me? There’s so many amazing people in the organization.” I was seriously shocked and honored, but very surprised.
What are your responsibilities as MDSC’s Sisterhood president?
To set up programs, to educate, to inform the Sisterhood about what’s happening in the congregation, and also, because [I’m] Sisterhood president, that puts me on the board, so we’re making all kinds of decisions for the synagogue.
Why do you do what you do?
It’s very fulfilling. When I do a program, like “Jews of Sudan,” I learn new materials, meet new people, fascinating people. And one thing with scholars and librarians and filmmakers, they get excited when people are interested in their work, and you can just learn so much. No matter how much you studied about a subject, there’s always more to learn because there’s always new information coming out. There are always new angles.
What are your goals?
[My goals are] to do more programming and really to work on making people aware of Jews from Arab and Muslim lands. That’s one of my big focuses. My husband is from Iran, and he left because of the antisemitism. I have friends from Lebanon that were kicked out, and friends from Syria, many friends from Iraq left everything. And there’s stories not told.
It’s probably around 850,000 Jews from Arab and Muslim lands, and many of the Jews were absorbed [by their new countries]. They left and had to start all over again. That’s one of my goals for the upcoming year: focus my programming on Jews from different areas of the Mideast and North Africa.
