Thanks to the creativity of MTSU art students, patrons of the James E. Walker Library now can see the forest for the trees.

'Trees' created by MTSU art students from used copy paper offer an environmental message to Walker Library visitors. (photo submitted)

To commemorate Earth Day, students of Associate Professor Erin Anfinson’s Drawing II class fashioned a display with paper collected from a single library recycling bin. Their work festoons the windows of the reference area on the first floor.

With the words “Free Printing Has Costs” added to the display, Anfinson’s students hope to drive home the point that library funding spent on printing paper uses up money that could be spent on new technology and other resources.

Visitors to Walker Library used more than 8.3 million sheets of paper last year—the equivalent of nearly 1,000 trees.

The students who participated in the project are Ray Armstrong, Evelyn Burns-Garatoni, Sandi Caves, Sarah Denton, DeMarcus Jackson, Adrienne Johnson, Natsumi Kajisa, Jessica Kanizar, Kellie Melton, Kristine Sharp, Katie Stephens, Jaqulyn Swanson and Nicole Wolowicz.

The display will remain in place through April 27. For more information, contact Kristen Keene at 615-898-5376 or kristen.keene@mtsu.edu.

— Gina K. Logue (Gina.Logue@mtsu.edu)