others like tennessee williams cannot later, up i should say, allen ginsberg came out. he asked why are you always writing about homosexuality and he would say because i am a homosexual. he actually, i think, was the first, even to the point of who's who who is who in america, he looked at his partner as this is my lover. this is my husband. and i think he really was the first. >> wasn't allen ginsberg arrested for some of his poetry? >> his book, when it was published, it was put on trial or obscenities. ginsberg was on a trip. it was his publisher, lauren sterling get a publisher, lauren sterling getty, a straight man who loves good poetry and got behind this book of poems, who went on trial. and he became national news, the late 1955. and it was a book of poetry. because of this trial, because it had gotten major news coverage, newspapers, the book of poetry became a bestseller seller. it was small, but the title point was great. which was, this was just raw and powerful, words and energy, which included gay sexuality in a very matter-of-fact way. they got all this a

we have allen ginsberg.o we really tried to be very clear that poetry has been an impressive part of american history, and that america is have been very committed to both writing and reading poetry. and i think that continues today. >> what about religious books? >> well, we do have a holographic the bible. a lot of the books, while they would necessarily be associated with a religion, have a moralistic or a kind of do good tone to them. and we really felt that that is more representative of america. than would be a particular religious books. so we tried to look at the values of america, her spiritual sort of persona, rather than looking at particular religious books. >> how did you get your start here at the library of congress? >> oh, my goodness. well, i started here over 30 years ago as the first special assistant to the law librarians, fairly fresh out of law school. i absolutely fell in love with the library of congress, and 30 plus years ago, as today, you cannot keep me aay. i'm going to work every

so we have walt whitman, allen ginsberg.here they tried to be very clear that poetry has been an impressive part of america's history and that americans have been very committed to both writing and reading poetry. i think that continues today. >> what about religious books? >> we do have a holographic pile a lot of the books, while they would not necessarily be associated with the religion have the moralistic or kind of a do good tone to the. and we really felt that is more representative of america then would be a particular religious book. so we tried to look at the values of america, her spiritual sort of persona. rather than looking a particular religious books. >> roberta shaffer, headed to get your start? >> i started here over 30 years ago as the first special assistant to law library. fairly fresh out of law school. absolutely fell in love with the library of congress. thirty plus years ago as today you cannot keep me away. a room to work every morning, and i think that working here and being here surrounded by books