Amanda Lichtenstein

Amanda Lichtenstein has been a Library Trustee since 2023. Beginning as a “poetry-obsessed” English lit major at Kalamazoo College and later pursuing a masters in arts in education from Harvard Graduate School of Education, she has spent a lifetime engaged in language and cultural exchange. After teaching poetry workshops in Chicago Public Schools, she traveled to Zanzibar and directed a study abroad program while earning an advanced certificate in Swahili. Ten years of living abroad led to a career in journalism, where she edited and reported stories on arts and culture, food and music, religion and spirituality, conflict, and migration. 

As a trustee, she loves the chance to collectively imagine and support all the ways in which this library lives its values of community, collaboration, compassion, curiosity, intellectual freedom, preservation and life-learning. 

She feels that the library should be a supportive space for everyone, where it’s safe to ask questions and find answers–a place where you matter–with a staff committed to care and mutual respect.

While travel has been a huge part of Amanda’s life, Skokie has always been home. She grew up here and spent many hours at the library as a second home. She frequently checks out audiobooks on Libby, prints and scans important documents, and books study rooms to accomplish tasks that require quiet focus and attention. She also enjoys the art exhibitions at the library, thrifting, and is an avid vintage collector.