Public libraries: a unique place to do citizen science
Juliette Chalant
Oct. 29, 2024, 11:51 a.m.
On October 17-18, the 10 public libraries participating in the European Citizen Science (ECS) project gathered in Ljubljana, Slovenia for two days of exchanges and reflections on the role of public libraries as hubs for citizen science and engagement. The meeting was co-hosted by Public Libraries 2030, the Ljubljana City Library and Municipal Library of Kranj in the Center Rog building, a newly opened social and creative hub home to 9 production workshops and a local branch library. We were lucky to get a visit to the different makerspaces by the Center Rog’s librarian.
As part of the ECS project, 10 public libraries in Austria, Greece, Latvia, Romania, Finland, Denmark, Slovenia, and Portugal will organise activities and programmes throughout 2024 to raise awareness about citizen science to their local community, and encourage future participation in citizen science projects. So far, the activities and events have ranged from beekeeping workshops, to nature walks, and collection of place names for the city’s historical archive.
Takeaways, challenges & future goals
Through interactive sessions facilitated by the ECS partner, StickyDot, the librarians shared key takeaways, challenges and perspectives for future citizen science activities with the group. Through exchanges and discussions, it became clear that many public libraries face similar challenges when organising citizen science activities (for example, reaching certain target groups), and many realised that, without knowing it, they’ve already been doing citizen science for many years.
The Center for Social Innovation (ZSI), member of the ECS consortium, provided a comprehensive overview of the ECS project, and presented the recently published book The impact of citizen science: 12 stories from across Europe. This book compiles 12 impact stories from citizen science efforts implemented across Europe, including two stories from the Viikki Library in Finland and the Valmiera Library in Latvia. This presentation highlighted the importance of the public library’s work within the overall ECS project impact assessment, as the work with public and research libraries was one of the top 3 most important pathways to impact in the mid-project evaluation.
Exchanges with the Slovenian Citizen Science Network
The second day provided an opportunity to learn more about the Slovenian Citizen Science Network, and ongoing citizen science projects taking place in Slovenia. This included presentations from Zarja Muršič, the Slovenian Ambassador for Citizen Science, and from the France Bevk Public Library in Nova Gorica on their Seed Library project – which has now grown to a network of nearly 20 seed libraries across Slovenia.
Following these presentations and exchanges, the ECS public libraries presented their own projects and initiatives to the Slovenian colleagues:
The Valmiera Library in Latvia presented their various citizen science activities with teenagers and seniors, such as field trips to local natural springs, green a ‘Green Afternoon’, and the ‘Place Names’ project. The place names project combined both seniors and teenagers in a storytelling activity to collect stories of local history in the Valmiera region into a national database.
In the Veria Central Public Library, they organised a MasterClass in collaboration with the Switzerland-based CERN research centre on how physics, and in particular, proton research can be used in the fight against cancer. This event brought together over 300 students between the ages of 15-19 from all over Greece.
In Poland, the Municipal Public Library in Kudowa-Zdrój organised a Citizen Science Day to introduce local residents to citizen science, and collaborated with the Góry Stołowe National Park on an initiative focused on pollinating insects.
In Finland, the Viikki Library organised activities to make citizen science accessible and engaging to underrepresented groups in scientific activities (seniors and unemployed people). This included nature walks, trash collection on beaches using kits from the Finnish Environment Institute, and a ‘Great Nature Evening’ organised in collaboration with the Museum of Natural History.
The meeting in Slovenia has highlighted the valuable work that public libraries all over Europe contribute to citizen science. In addition to this, we have once again seen the importance of in-person meetings and exchanges to foster collaborations, provide inspiration for future citizen science initiatives and projects.
