Then Poet Laureate of the United States Robert Pinsky launched the Favorite Poem Project with poetry readings in New York, Washington, Boston, St. Louis and Los Angeles, in April 1998 during National Poetry Month. A part of the Library of Congress Bicentennial celebration, the Project is creating an audio and video archive of Americans of all ages, backgrounds, and walks of life reciting their favorite poems. At the heart of this initiative is Mr. Pinsky's belief that poetry is meant to be read aloud. "If a poem is written well, it was written with the poet's voice and for a voice. Reading a poem silently instead of saying a poem is like the difference between staring at sheet music and actually humming or playing the music on an instrument."

The two long-term goals of the Favorite Poem Project are to promote the reading and appreciation of poetry and encourage the teaching of poetry in schools nationwide. Collaborating with Mr. Pinsky are the New England Foundation for the Arts, which administers the program, the Library of Congress, the home of the Poet Laureate, and Boston University.

The Project aims to record up to 1,000 Americans saying poems that they love. The first 50 videotaped poems were presented to the Library of Congress on April 3 as part of "Poetry in America: A Library of Congress Bicentennial Celebration," which was cybercast live on the Library's Web site (loc.gov.gov/loc/cyberlc). The Favorite Poem Project audio and video tapes will become a permanent part of the Library's Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature. "This will be a gift to the nation's future, an archive that may come to represent, in a form both individual and public, the collective cultural consciousness of the American people at the turn of the century," said Mr. Pinsky, a professor of English and creative writing at Boston University.

For more information and to view online videos, please visit . More information about "Poetry in America: A Library of Congress Bicentennial Celebration" is available at loc.gov/today/pr/2000/00-019.html.