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Page 4
January 2015
Arlington’s Sam T. Wilson Public Library Welcomes New Manager
Story and Photo by Terry Louderback
A California native, Christine
Conwell is a self-professed “book
nerd.” Conwell received her BA in
Liberal Studies in 2009 and
intended to enter a teaching
certification program. Due to a job
shortage for teachers in California,
she returned home to Castaic,
California and worked at the local
middle school for six years, first in
the school library and then as an
assistant office manager. Conwell
will complete her Masters of
Library Studies from San Jose State
University in Spring of 2015.
Conwell assumed the position of
Library Manager at the Sam T.
Wilson Public Library in December
2014.
What led you to become a
librarian?
When I was working in the
school library, one of the teachers
asked me if I had considered
becoming a librarian as a career—I
didn’t even know you went to
school to become a librarian, to be
honest.
Have you always been a reader?
From very early on, I loved
stories. I love using my imagination
and I develop relationships with my
books. I get sad when the book is
over or when my favorite characters
die or get hurt. I grew up in a family
where if you were interested in
something, they would say “let’s go
to the library and check out a book
on this.” When I lived in Georgia, a
frog laid eggs in our kiddie pool and
I remember my mom taking us to
the library to pick up books on
tadpoles and we would watch them
grow and learn what was going on.
What type of books do you like to
read?
I love to read; I love young adult.
My passion is really the tween and
teen readers; working in a middle
school, I worked with students that
are ages 11-14 and those care such
crucial times in kids lives, they
really begin developing their
personalities. I really saw the library
as an outlet for them and to be able
to look at what’s going on in their
life and then showing them books
that could relate to them.
I love series, like Harry Potter—I
even got dressed up for the
midnight showings. I was in college
when the 7th book came out and put
in time off for work so that I could
go to Barnes & Noble and stand in
line and buy it.
Are there any books you read over
and over again?
To Kill a Mockingbird, by
Harper Lee is my absolute favorite
book. I probably own four copies
and read it every year. It really
resonated with me; when I don’t
know what to read, it’s my “comfort
book.”
When Christ and His Saints
Slept, by Sharon Penman. It’s a
huge book that I had to read for AP
European History and everyone
hated the book, but the medieval
times were so fascinating. Maud,
who is the central character, has had
her thrown basically stolen from her
by her nephew. I loved the strong
women characters and I read it
almost every year.
Do you have any goals for the
library?
With a new manager coming in,
this is a great time to make any
changes to the library. Right now,
pre-school and elementary students
are well served, but we could add
more programs for older kids and
more family-oriented activities.
Maybe not limit ourselves to
summer activities, but see what we
can do while the kids are in school
that can continue learning outside of
the classroom. I’d like to see if we
could get more connected with the
schools as well as get more
feedback from our patrons and see
how we make the library more
visible.
Why Arlington?
It picked me. I wasn’t expecting
to get a call back. I started looking
online—I Googled and YouTubed
Arlington and I fell in love with it
before I moved here.
So what do you think so far?
E ver yo n e h a s b e e n so
overwhelmingly friendly. Moving
to Tennessee, I expected “Southern
Hospitality,” but to actually be here
where people are genuinely
concerned, it just feels good.
People genuinely care. That was
something that we kind of expected,
but to be actually in it is really nice.
I love that people appreciate time
here, making time for themselves
and their families. There’s not that
expectation that every single minute
of your day is already planned. It’s
relaxing, but it took a little while to
get used to. Here it really is about
developing relationships with
people.
Arlington Wrestlers Grapple with Success
Story and photo by Jason Phillips
Arlington Wrestling Tigers celebrating their historic championship at Clarkville Slamfest
Arlington Wrestling
Tigers
The season of wins
continued for the Arlington Wrestling Tigers as
the high school wrestling
team is now 12-0 in dual
competition this season
with a historic championship title at the Clarksville,
Tennessee Slamfest tournament on December 13,
2014.
Under new head coach
Jonathan Simpson, the
Tigers have raised their
level of competiveness
and continued to build on
the foundation laid in past
seasons.
Seniors Reid Cacaro
(132lbs),
Andrew
Zarshenas (138lbs), Will
Craft (145lbs) and Nathan
Enzor (170lbs) have provided numerous pins that
have contributed greatly to
the Tigers success at the
Houston High School
Blackhorse invitational
and the Clarksville Slamfest.
Sophomore Andrew
Flick’s quickness has been
very entertaining to watch
as he takes down