The Private Collection is an interactive audio tour that is site-specific to the British Library, St Pancras.

The Private Collection is an interactive audio tour that is site-specific to the British Library, St. Pancras.

You are handed a key to a locker. Inside, you find a CD walkman. You press play. A woman speaks to you in muted tones, asking you for help. She navigates you through the library, telling you her story and her dreams, while in your right ear a man whispers words of warning and incitement. As you walk through the library you become caught up in a mystery story.

The walk is recorded in binaural audio: you can't tell which sounds are real. You hear footsteps behind you but when you turn around no one is there. Inside the reading room you hear other noises: microfilm, computers waking up, people coughing and snoring, whispering.

It was suspenseful, very engaging and disorienting at the same time: a very strong and weird experience – to be surrounded by stories, sounds, voices in the midst of the silence of the library.

To arrange a visit, please see the website, email theprivatecollection@gmail.com, or phone 0780 0736525.