Born and raised in California, Missouri, Angie Bayne earned an English degree at Northwest Missouri State University before taking jobs in Chicago, Hawaii and then closer to home to work for the state Department of Economic Development.
She never imagined all this would lead to a job that includes reading more than 500 children's books a year.
But it was a simple statement from a friend and colleague at a publishing company in Chicago that altered the course of her career and life. One day, Bayne's friend told her: "I think you'd make a great librarian."
Bayne considered the statement and a light went off in her head.
"I love books. I was an English major. I love literature," she said.
So while she was working for DED by day, she studied in the evenings to earn a master's degree in library science from the University of Alabama.
When Missouri River Regional Library advertised for the open position of children's services manager in 2009, she jumped on it.
She got the job.
She still has the job 12 years later, her duties have increased and she loves what she does.
In addition to managing the Children's Department, which includes a staff of seven, she is also the collection development manager for the entire library. That requires her to oversee a $300,000 budget she and other library staff use to purchase new books and other materials each year.
Each day, she looks over requests for books/materials requested by patrons. The library doesn't purchase many self-published books, but otherwise, Bayne and other library staff work to fulfill many of the requests either through purchases or inter-library loans.
In addition to adding books, she also works to remove books that are worn or unused.
If you haven't been to the library lately, you might not realize everything that's available. Among the books, DVDs, magazines, newspapers and digital offerings, there are also STEAM kits with books and materials for related projects as well as Playway tablets preloaded with educational games and materials.
When the pandemic hit last year, movie releases slowed, so Bayne also expanded the library's offerings by stocking video games as well. Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch games can be checked out.
Bayne also oversees the children's programming, headed up by Eric Lyon and Donna Loehner. That includes events from Rhyme Time to Kids Steam Night to Family Movie Night.
Bayne sometimes works the desk in the Children's Department, where she gets to interact with kids and parents, as well as the reference desk.
The best part of her job?
"Having kids being super excited about books. There's nothing better than recommending a book and having a child come in the next week and saying, 'I loved that book. It's the greatest thing I've ever read.'"
As if her varied duties aren't enough, she also reads hundreds of children's books a year, ranging from short picture books to long chapter books. As of this past Thursday, she had read 538 books this year.
She feels an obligation to keep up with the children's books not just to make recommendations, but because she's a member of the Dogwood Readers Award Committee, a statewide committee that establishes a recommended reading list of children's nonfiction.
She's come to like children's books more than adult offerings - the writing is sharper, she said, because children's authors eliminate unnecessary flowery language and get to the point. She can speak at length about amazing titles she's read.
Among many others: "Code Name Badass: The True Story of Virginia Hall," "Tuesdays at the Castle" and the Percy Jackson series.
A current trend in children's publishing, she said, is biographies of people not well known, including women and people of color.
During the past five years, she's overseen a wide-scale rearrangement in the Children's Department on the library's second floor. She considers this her biggest accomplishment at MRRL.
Among other things, the picture books have been moved to bins near the entrance and arranged by subject. Kids or parents can easily sort through the books like albums at a record store. Staff also reorganized other materials in the Children's Department to make popular books, including nonfiction books, easier to peruse.
"All in all, it took probably five years start to finish, but it's rewarding because patrons really responded to the changes," she said. "It just made things so much easier for them. All my projects want to make things easier and more enjoyable."
Her staff often anticipates what project she'll come up with next.
"I am very happy in my current position, I love what I do. There's very little I don't enjoy about working in a library, but I think there's room to accomplish more."