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At the Library, a Stack of Choice Finds

Tina Habash, a volunteer at the Library of Congress, views a stereograph found by interns sifting through 135 years of copyrighted material. The newly processed items will be available to researchers. (By Lucian Perkins -- The Washington Post)

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· A previously undocumented "playscript" of Charlie Chaplin's 1925 film "The Gold Rush."

· Footage of Fidel Castro in 1959, just before his rise to power.

· "There's No God in Old Bin Laden," a folksy album of patriotic songs copyrighted in 2002 by Eric Free and the Freedom Band.

These mint items, now logged and numbered, will broaden the library's collection of primary-source materials available for research. But with 31 million copyrights issued since the office's inception in 1870, not all the discoveries were illustrious.

"I don't know if I should mention this," says Brown, voice lowering, "but there were certain types of violent, sexual anime."

There was also "Six Easy Pieces for Piano." Personal photos of kittens. Fitness videos from the '80s. And other items people thought were worth the $30 fee to copyright. Like the home video of a pre-"American Idol" Clay Aiken singing at some wedding.

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