‘The beauty of the library:’ educators discuss the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship program and their placement at the Library of Congress

“The Library of Congress is a special place. It's so much more than the beautiful building and the books, the manuscripts. It is a utopia, and you have the opportunity to explore that each and every day.”

Those are the words of Amara Alexander, an alumnus of the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship who was placed at the Library of Congress during her time in the program. Alexander and Kelsey Beeghly, a class of 2023-24 AEF Fellow who was also at the Library of Congress, recently completed an interview together for the ORISE Featurecast in which they discussed their experiences.

The AEF Program is an opportunity for accomplished K-12 educators in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to serve in national educational arenas in Washington, D.C.

Alexander and Beeghly both fit the description of “accomplished educators.” Alexander is a former fifth-grade STEM teacher and is now a middle-school principal who is pursuing a doctoral degree from the University of South Carolina. Beeghly is a former middle school teacher, and recently completed her doctoral degree in science education from the University of Central Florida.

When asked why they decided to apply to the AEF Program, both educators had similar answers.

“I knew that I wanted something different,” said Alexander. “I wanted to shift, I wanted to be able to step out of the classroom and have a voice that was beyond my classroom, beyond my community. And then I became aware of the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship. So I applied. Why not? Just apply. And I got the best placement, as I will tell anybody in the Fellowship, at the Library of Congress.”

“As I was finishing up my Ph.D., I was also looking to see what else I can do to expand my professional knowledge,” Beeghly answered. “And I came across the AEF Program on Google. I saw it maybe a year before I graduated and before I would be eligible to apply. So I really worked on my application and spent that whole time researching and thinking about what life would be like in D.C. as part of this program.”

The Library of Congress is one of five sponsoring agencies in the AEF program.

“The Library of Congress holds everything,” Beeghly explained. “It’s not just history or literature, it’s everything including all of the science, technology, math, the patents—everything. So, in my placement, I started to learn how important it is for them to have someone with that STEM background voice to add to the conversation and to advocate and develop more resources for science teachers.”

“I think that is the beauty of the library,” Alexander agreed. “You go to a library, it has everything. And when you go to the nation’s library, if you open up a book it has the copyright of the Library of Congress. Everything goes to the Library of Congress. So it’s just beautiful that all the things that are housed there as they relate to science, technology, engineering, math and even the arts.”

Both educators discussed the incredible things that they found in the library. For Alexander, it was Rosa Parks’ peanut butter pancake recipe, scribbled on the back of an envelope—Alexander said the recipe was delicious, and was able to connect it to a blog post about math lessons. For Beeghly, it was a fluoroscope used in department stores to X-ray feet and find customers’ correct shoe size.  

“If you’re at the Library of Congress, you’re working, exploring, researching, having fun,” said Alexander. “The people who work at the Library of Congress are the smartest that I’ve met and come with a wealth of knowledge and are open to sharing that wealth of knowledge. So, if you have the privilege of working at the Library of Congress, you’re in conversations with individuals who just know things.”

Beeghly agreed.

“The Library is such a beautiful place and it’s so full of knowledge,” she said. “And I think it’s also important to mention that it’s not just for Congress, it’s not just for historians, Ph.D. researchers, authors: it is for everyone. Any sixteen-year-old with an ID can go and get their library card. But even if you can’t be in person, if you’re halfway around the world, there are so many things digitized and so many ongoing digitization projects to just expand the reach and access for all types of information that someone might be researching. So I feel really proud to be affiliated with the institution in any way, just because they do so much to make sure that everyone has access to the information that’s stored at the library.”