Trinity welcomes Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) as Old Library Benefactor

Posted on: 03 July 2025

A celebratory event was held at Trinity College Dublin last night to recognise the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) as a new benefactor of the Old Library Redevelopment Project to conserve and safeguard the historic Library and its collections for future generations.

Founded by Stavros Spyros Niarchos, who died in 1996, SNF supports nonprofit organisations around the world with a focus on education, arts and culture, health and sports, and social welfare.

At the event in the Long Room, Librarian and College Archivist Helen Shenton presented SNF Programs Director Casey Russo with a scroll in honour of the Foundation’s support for the OLRP, and to mark the engraving of their name on a bay in the Old Library.

Librarian Helen Shenton, Taylor Glazebrook, Vasiliki Anargyrou, Chris Davey, Casey Russo and Luis Daniel Caridad, Provost Dr Linda Doyle and Ambassador of Greece, H.E, Mr Georgios Stilianopoulos

Provost and President of Trinity, Dr Linda Doyle, said: “I am delighted to thank the Stavros Niarchos Foundation for its generous support of our Old Library Redevelopment Project. 

“The Old Library is a national treasure and its redevelopment is a hugely ambitious project for Trinity. The support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation sends a powerful message about the international significance of this work.

"We are indebted to so many generous partners who have helped this project to advance. Trinity thrives because of the support of so many generous partners around the world such as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.”

Marking the occasion, Russo said, “Libraries like this represent the highest and best of what humanity can achieve together, preserving cultural heritage, contributing to our understanding of the world, and inspiring people of all ages and backgrounds. We’ve been impressed with Trinity’s clear-sighted approach to the preservation of one of Ireland’s foremost historical—but very much living—monuments, and all of us at SNF could not be prouder to support this project.”

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