Born: Payne was born in Wichita, but grew up in Wellington.

Family: Husband, Mat, to whom Payne has been married for three years. They have a daughter, Arianna. The family also has two dogs, Bo and Chewy.

Occupation: Payne is youth services librarian at Tonganoxie Public Library.

“I do everything from storytime for the little kids to programs for teens,” Payne said.

Interesting fact: Payne’s mother also is a librarian.

“It seems to run in the family,” Payne said.

Digging deeper: Payne started her library career when she was 13 volunteering at her local library. Since then, she’s worked in several other libraries, most recently a public library in North Carolina while her husband was stationed at Fort Bragg.

Payne and her husband met at a church that his best friend invited them to attend. About two months later Mat left for basic training. Rebecca was attending Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla., at the time. When they got married, she moved to North Carolina and started taking classes through Grand Canyon University.

Payne has a degree in history from GCU, but libraries are her passion. She’ll be starting graduate school in January to get a master’s degree in library science.

Payne’s husband was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne. He was injured on a jump, so he’s been medically retired from the Army. When it looked as though he would be getting out, Payne started looking for a job back home. She found Tonganoxie. The family resides in Lawrence.

“When I’m not reading, I spend time watching movies with my family, or cooking,” Payne said. “I love to bake, especially desserts!”

The avid reader started at the Tonganoxie Public Library, noting that it’s the nicest library in which she’s worked.

“Everyone is so sweet in the community,” Payne said. “We are adding lots of new programs in January, so I hope to see even more people from the community come in.”