By: Madyson Kosar

Coming soon to the Stevenson Community: the Philip A. Zaffere Foundation Library is scheduled to open in Summer 2023. The new library will further expand the hub of Stevenson’s academic facilities located on the Owings Mills North Campus.  

The university currently has three smaller libraries located at the Brown School of Business on the Owings Mills campus, the Learning Resources Center on the Greenspring campus, as well as the Learning Commons on Owings Mills North. The new, larger facility will provide a central location for students and faculty alike to study and work together.  

The $16 million library will be named after Philip A. Zaffere, a Maryland investor and businessman who passed away in 2016, whose foundation donated a $2 million naming gift to the university. 

 Zaffere was born in Federalsburg, MD in 1930, and he was known for his outside-of-the-box ways of thinking and innovation, taking his family’s small bakery business to a national level. The company, Shoreman Food Technologies, was sold to the PET Food Corporation and became the main supplier for brands like Stove Top Stuffing and Mrs. Paul’s Frozen Foods. 

Stevenson’s Vice President of Marketing and Communication, John Buettner, stated that “Students, as well as faculty, will benefit from having a library and associated learning, study, and research resources on the Owings Mills Campus, where a large majority of the university’s classes are now held.”  

Approximately 35 faculty members who currently have offices on the Greenspring campus will be transferred to new offices in the new facility. This change will make these faculty members more accessible for their students and easier to reach during office hours. 

   According to Stevenson’s Interim Vice President of Finance and CFO, Melanie Edmondson, “will break ground in the 3rd quarter of 2021 and expect an 18-month construction phase.” Edmondson also stated that the site is anticipated to be approximately 42,000-square-feet and includes parking on the premises.