Data on Librarians' Perceptions of Participation in a Citizen Science Project in a Network of Public Libraries

Citizen Science (CS) is an approach to scientific work and part of the Open Science movement. This study aims to analyze the perception of the librarians about their participation in the aBEIRAr project, which is a CS partnership for the valorization of the territory developed in the Intermunicipal Network of Libraries of Beiras and Serra da Estrela (RIBBSE) in Portugal. The methodology comprised a literature review, and the case study included an interview and a survey. Of the results obtained, the following stand out: the libraries are the driving forces behind the aBEIRAr project; they choose the themes, organize and dynamize the activities in their local communities, and establish various partnerships with the mediation of the project's scientific coordination; the level of satisfaction of the librarians in this project is very satisfactory; in the libraries the number of participants in other face-to-face activities and the interaction on their social network profiles increased after the implementation of the aBEIRAr project; librarians believe that CS can bring participatory scientific knowledge to public libraries and their users. The data provide valuable insights into the opportunities and challenges of running CS projects in collaboration with public libraries. These findings contribute to the ongoing discussion about the role of libraries as essential community centres.