The British Library sound archive was founded in 1955 as the British Institute of Recorded Sound, and is now one of the largest collections of audio material in the world. We have over 6.5 million individual recordings in our collection including over 1 million discs, nearly 200,000 tapes and over 250,000 digitised recordings.
Access to our Sound and Vision collection is supported through the Listening and Viewing Service, located in the Rare Books & Music Reading Room at our London St Pancras location. Access is by advance appointment only – we cannot facilitate walk-up appointments. This is because our team needs to check every request for copyright, sensitivity, and conservation concerns before our material can be made available.
Please note that it takes up to 8 – 10 weeks for requested material to be prepared for a free listening appointment.
The British Library sound archive consists of the following collection areas:
You can search the collection through our interim Sound and Moving Image catalogue, and find guidance for how to search the catalogue here.
The Listening and Viewing Service is open from Monday to Thursday between 10.00 – 19.30, and Friday and Saturday from 10.00 – 16.30.