About the Board of Trustees

My name is Amanda Curley. I have lived in Ossining with my family since 1992. During that time, it was an honor to be elected Trustee, Ossining Union Free School Board, for two terms, six years. During that service, and during the time when my three sons, Ben, Dylan and Scott, attended and graduated from our schools, I became deeply familiar with both the excellence of and challenges to education in our diverse community.

Education is my profession, and literacy is my professional specialty. Now retired, I have given my experience to our community as a Trustee of the Ossining Public Library. I have dedicated my service to meet the State’s Trustee mandate: support our qualified Director; implement adopted policies; govern the library’s operations; engage and evaluate near- and long-term planning; secure operating funds; and work with the Board and the Director to ensure that expenditures are within budget authorization.

COMMUNITY SERVICE
• Trustee, Board of Education, Ossining Union Free School District
• Executive Board Representative, Westchester/Putnam School Board Association
• Member, School Access Program Volunteer, New York Metropolitan Opera Guild
• Member, Friends Committee on National Legislation
• Election Inspector, Westchester County Board of Elections
• Volunteer, New Castle Meals on Wheels

WORK BACKGROUND
• President, AC Strategies, Education and Grant Funding Consultation, 2014-2021
• Executive Director, Curriculum and Instruction, 2003-2014, Yonkers Public Schools
• Reading Specialist, Classroom Instruction, Grades K-12, 1991-2003,Yonkers Public Schools
• ESL/ABE Teacher, Evening/Summer Adult Education Center, 1991-2002, Yonkers Public Schools
• Classroom Teacher, 1987-1991, Our Lady of Victory and Yonkers Public Schools
• English Teacher to Vietnamese Refugees, Singapore, 1984-1985, United Nations High Commission

EDUCATION
• Master of Science, Administration and Supervision, Fordham University
• Master of Science, Reading Specialization, Curriculum and Teaching, Fordham University
• Bachelor of Arts, English Literature, University of California Santa Barbara

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
• Old Mill Singers, Ossining, Member, Board Secretary
• Northern Star Quilters’ Guild, Member, Board Treasurer
• Inningwood Road Book Club, Founding Member

I believe that reading and lifelong learning bring richness to our lives. I believe in the Ossining Public Library’s Mission, to enrich, connect, and inspire our community, and Vision, to be the community’s center for lifelong learning. I believe in the aspiration to transform the Ossining Public Library into a center for our diverse community through implementation of the Long Range Strategic Plan focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  Serving a second term as a Board of Director’s Trustee, I serve the community with knowledge of what the current Board of Trustees has brought to the community through the library, the plans in place to continue enriching the community, and the intention of building towards a better future.