Skip to Main Content

Sound and vision

Access to our Sound and Vision collection is through the Listening and Viewing Service, which is in the Rare Books & Music Reading Room and is by advance appointment only

Introduction

Access to our Sound and Vision collection is through the Listening and Viewing Service, which is in the Rare Books & Music Reading Room.

The British Library Sound Archive consists of the following collection areas:

  • Oral History
  • Drama and Literature
  • Radio and News Broadcasts
  • Popular Music 
  • Classical Music
  • World and Traditional Music
  • Accent and Dialect
  • Wildlife and Environmental Sounds
  • Moving Image (*currently unavailable) 

The Listening and Viewing Service is by advance appointment only, and no walk-up appointments can be booked. This is because we often have to arrange access to the material you need.  

The service is open Monday to Thursday between 10.00 – 19.30, and Friday and Saturday from 10.00 – 16.30.