MTSU offers many resources for students, but taking advantage of all of them often becomes overwhelming. So, here are eleven examples to kick off this upcoming school year. 

1 – The seed library

A new seed library located on the first floor of the James E. Walker Library allows students to select five free seed packets weekly, from flowers to vegetables. If a student cannot afford a pet or is looking for a new hobby, MTSU’s plant library provides an opportunity to nurture something new this school year.

2 – The Makerspace

The Makerspace is also in the library and offers a variety of technology for MTSU students to explore. Any student from any major is encouraged to check out flight simulators, virtual reality headsets, 3D printers and vinyl printers. If students are unfamiliar with any of these tools, they can sign up for free training in the library.

3 – Free counseling sessions

MTSU provides six free therapy sessions through MTSU Counseling. These appointments offer short-term care rather than traditional long-term therapy. While this does come at some disadvantage, the counselors utilize each therapy session effectively, even providing patients with connections to long-term options that suit them. The counseling office also provides psychiatrists.

4 – Printing 

If a student is desperate to print an assignment, there are printers available on every floor of the library. The printers can print in color or black and white and can also copy, scan and fax. If a student needs further instructions, more information is available on the library’s website. 

5 – Food Pantry

There is a food pantry available for students in the Student Services and Admissions Center. A student can access the pantry once a week with a student ID at the OneStop desk. The pantry offers non-perishable, boxed, canned and dry foods as well as feminine hygiene products Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

6 – Recreational Center

Equipped with several gyms and a rock climbing wall, MTSU’s Recreational Center gives students a chance to get active. With a student ID, anyone can participate in the free activities going on at the rec center, such as spin cycling, dance rooms with floor-length mirrors or a pickleball court. There is also a track field above the basketball and volleyball court, an indoor soccer field and an indoor pool with a water slide. Most equipment needed to play a sport is offered for free at the Rec Center desk. Fitness classes are also scheduled throughout the year.

7 – Health Services 

In the Recreational Center, there is a pharmacy and a doctor’s office called Health Services. Here, students can transfer prescriptions or set up a medical appointment. Health services covers “sick visits to physicals, including diagnostic testing, immunizations, women’s health, lab/x-ray services, dietetic consults, and health coaching,” according to its website. There are additional phone numbers to further direct students, even after the center is closed.

8 – Reflection Rooms

There are quiet rooms on campus in the library available at any time without the need for a reservation. These rooms promise a quiet space for personal reflection, meditation or prayer. The rooms come on a first-come, first-served basis and accommodate three people at a time, according to the library website. 

9 – Center for Popular Music 

The Center for Popular Music, located in the Bragg building, is “one of the world’s oldest research centers devoted to the study of American folk and popular music,” according to its website. The center holds over one million items of research on popular music in its reading room, where students can access books covering a range of scholarly, professional and consumer publications. The center also offers grant-supported projects, hosts guest lecturers, concerts, social media management, public programming, the Spring Fed Record label, digitization activities and individual staff projects. 

10 – Free Speech Center

The Free Speech Center at MTSU is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy center located in the Bragg building and offers a variety of ways to get educated. It offers the First Amendment Encyclopedia and frequent news, analysis and commentary on current First Amendment issues.

11 – Reservable Study Rooms 

Students can book study rooms in the library on its website. These rooms are located on the second, third and fourth floors of the library and have long desks with one computer and a whiteboard meant for a group of people. But, if a student would rather have a solitary study session, there are also individual, soundproof study pods which are reservable on the second and fourth floors. MTSU also offers family study rooms which contain a computer, adult and child-sized furniture, children’s toys and books and a whiteboard for students who have children or dependent adults.

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