First set of Amazon lockers installed in Union Garage

By Holden Schmale, Contributing Writer

Update: In an email Friday afternoon, Mooney said the lockers in West Village Garage have now been installed, but are not yet ready to be selected as a delivery location. They and the Union Garage lockers should be ready for student use by the end of next week.

The Towson University Department of Parking & Transportation has partnered with Amazon to install three sets of Amazon lockers in outdoor locations around campus for 24/7 package retrieval. 

The first set of Amazon lockers was installed in the Union Garage before Thanksgiving break, and more are planned to be installed in the West Village Garage in about a week, according to Parking & Transportation Director Pamela Mooney in an email Tuesday. 

“With 400 – 500+ packages delivered to campus daily and online ordering continuing to increase, we want to better serve the campus and provide timelier, and accurate delivery for students retrieving their packages,” she said in an email earlier last month. 

The lockers will still take a few days to become available as a delivery location, Mooney said.

Students can select “See Pickup Locations Nearby” and choose an on-campus locker during the check-out process on Amazon. This differs from the campus-owned package lockers, for which Post Office employees will divert parcels into a locker or require pick-up at the counter in the University Union. 

Some students, like senior Redeat Yitbarek, are ready to use the new lockers. 

“I’m so excited to have an option for receiving packages closer to where I live on campus,” Yitbarek said. “Sometimes it can be a pain to walk through the rain and the cold to the [University Union] mailroom.”

Similarly, junior Owen Murphy, who lives off campus, said the new lockers will be useful to ease difficulties in getting packages to his address. 

“This gives me another, safer option for receiving important packages,” Murphy said.  

Packages not ordered through Amazon, or that don’t have an Amazon locker selected, will continue to be processed through Towson Postal Services, Mooney said. Oversized packages will go to the mailroom as well. 

Junior Kennedy Fisher said she will probably still use the Union Post Office, but appreciates having the option of the lockers. 

Mooney said Towson staff will have no involvement in the Amazon lockers — all responsibilities will be handled directly by Amazon employees. This includes locker costs and maintenance. 

Another set of Amazon lockers will be installed on the west side of the Residences at 10 West Burke Ave, she said. 

The Towerlight was not provided a timeline for that installation before publication Friday morning.

Gabriel Donahue contributed to this story.