The artwork gracing the first floor atrium of MTSU’s James E. Walker Library at the end of the spring semester will have a Shakespearean theme.

Two handheld skulls evoking a scene from Act V, Scene I of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet will greet library patrons. The skulls will be flanked by speech bubbles containing the admonition, “Thou doth print too much,” as a reminder to patrons to be conservative in their printing practices.

“Last fall, there were over four and a half million sheets of paper printed in the library,” said Erin Anfinson, an assistant professor of art whose drawing class created the artwork. “I think it’s quite shocking for the students to hear the number and then to actually go through a bin of paper. We probably didn’t even use an entire bin of paper on this.”

Student Shelby Rehberger, a fifth-year senior from McMinnville, Tenn., is the originator of the idea, and every student in the class contributed to its construction.

“Art should be conscious of its surroundings,” Rehberger said. “That’s why it’s good that this is in the library world because the library is a collection of papers.”

The exhibit also will include blank speech bubbles in which library patrons may use markers to write their comments on the exhibit. In addition, Anfinson’s students will place posters full of print-saving tips in library printing cubicles.

For more information, contact Anfinson at (615) 904-8412 or erin.anfinson@mtsu.edu, or Kristen Keene at (615) 898-5376 or kristen.keene@mtsu.edu.