Small Grants to Public Libraries Give Local Residents the Skinny on Skin Health

Thirteen public libraries around the United States and Canada have received small grants through the AAAS Skin Deep Project to fund public awareness events related to skin health. The events—scheduled for this fall—will combine skin care awareness with advice from skin health professionals such as dermatologists as well as tattoo artists and even a beauty queen.

“Everyone has this protective outer layer—skin. It’s our largest organ and a key line of defense against the elements,” said Suzanne Thurston, senior program associate in AAAS Education and Human Resources. “It’s important that everyone have a basic understanding of its physiology, function and best practices for taking care of it.”

As part of the larger AAAS Skin Deep Project, funded by Neutrogena, AAAS offered small grants to libraries to develop skin health programs for their communities. They received dozens of applications for the small grants, which were offered last spring and summer. The libraries received $500 toward their outreach projects, plus copies of the new AAAS book,The Science Inside Skin.

For more information on skin health programs at libraries, read the full story.