The commute to work for Andrea McCoy got a little bit better this fall.
The Platte City resident was hired by Mid-Continent Public Library as the assistant branch manager at the Platte City and Weston branches.
She splits time between the two branches with branch manager Rachel Rafuse.
McCoy most recently worked for the City of St. Joseph, serving as the manager of the Remington Nature Center, a job she held from 2008 until this past August.
While she is new to the workings of a library, she brings plenty of management experience to the job, as well as the knowledge of running programs and exhibits.
Andrea McCoy
She ran the 13,000 square foot Nature Center and did a lot of community outreach and tours.
McCoy provided nature programs for schools as far away at Lone Jack and Blue Springs at the nature center, while also having students from North Platte visit.
In a unique twist, Remington Nature Center had a temporary display inside the MCPL branch in Platte City before.
Now, she helps organize events such as story time for toddlers and pre-schoolers.
“The library is a different field but management is management,” she said. “The library process, it’ll take a while, but I’m excited to be here.”
Rafuse and McCoy are both at the Platte City branch on Mondays, while splitting two days a week each apart in the other two branches.
The Platte City branch is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Thursday; from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Weston’s hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Thursday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
McCoy and her husband, Blair, moved to Platte City in 2016. He had gotten a job in North Kansas City at Commerce Bank and she was still in St. Joseph, making Platte City a good middle ground for the couple that have been married five years and now have a three-year-old daughter, Hannah.
She is a native of Oregon, Mo., and a graduate of South Holt High School. Attending College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Mo., she earned a mass communication degree with an emphasis in journalism and a minor in history.
She worked for a time at PFI Western Store in Springfield from 2005 to 2008 before moving back to northwest Missouri.