This week’s selection comes from Steve Cleary, Lead Curator, Literary and Creative Recordings. As a curator in the British Library’s sound archive, members of the public often contact me about records or tapes that they might want to donate to the national collection. Often, we will already have a copy…

This week’s selection comes from Giulia Baldorilli, Sound and Vision Reference Specialist. If you could choose to go back in time, where would you go? Photo by Adam Winger on Unsplash. Nursery rhymes are something we never forget over the years. They hold memories of our school games and playful…

This week’s selection comes from Amal Malik, Community Research Intern for Unlocking our Sound Heritage. Content warning: this blog contains references to domestic violence. This Recording of the Week for International Women’s Day looks at the work of Southall Black Sisters activist and case worker Pragna Patel. ‘Let’s put race…

This week’s selection comes from Jim Hickson, Audio Project Cataloguer for Unlocking our Sound Heritage. I’m a jazz nut. My mental soundtrack is often filled with anonymous changes and walking bass solos. But there is one particular song that has been buzzing around my head for years and years –…

This week’s selection comes from Jonnie Robinson, Lead Curator of Spoken English. One of the fascinating aspects of children’s imaginative play, as celebrated on the Library’s Playtimes website, is how games and rhymes evolve and adapt to reflect time and place. Two British Library recordings of thumb war, for instance,…