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Get Ready to Apply

There are steps you must take to be ready to apply for a Keystone Grant for Public Library Facilities. You must complete these tasks to obtain the numbers required by the Keystone application when the Office of Commonwealth Libraries (OCL) announces the opening of a Keystone grant round.

Although the Keystone grant projects will be in a public library facility, the Contract from a successful application will be awarded to the sponsoring Municipality. Each of the following steps must be completed by the Municipal Applicant, as each of the requested numbers refer to the Municipality, not the Library.

Register Your Municipality

Before applying for a Keystone grant, the sponsoring municipality must obtain (or already have) the following four numbers:

  1. Administrative Unit Number (AUN);
  2. Pennsylvania Vendor Number;
  3. Unique Entity ID (UEI); and
  4. Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN). 

Learn how: Register your organization

Sign Up for eGrants

The Keystone application has moved from a paper application to an online system. In order to complete and submit an application, organizations must sign-up to use PDE's eGrants. Grant applications are submitted and managed on eGrants

Learn how: Sign up for eGrants 

Sign Up for PA-Share and Submit SHPO Review Form

Consultation with PHMC's State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) for Keystone Grants for Public Library Facilities projects is necessary if the project has not yet commenced and the project involves an identified historic property and/or ground disturbance within a previously undisturbed area (for example, new construction or substantial additions). Applicants should use Pennsylvania's Historic and Archaeological Resource Exchange (PA-SHARE) to determine if their proposed project includes an identified above ground historic property. If the proposed project meets any of these qualifications, the PA SHPO must be consulted using the PA-SHARE platform. Information on using PA-SHARE may be found here. Any questions concerning PA-SHARE should be directed to the PA-SHARE help desk at pashare@pa.gov

Learn howSubmit Environmental Review Project 
TutorialsUsing PA-SHARE to Consult with PA SHPO under Section 106 or Pennsylvania History Code (PDF)
Submitting a New Environmental Review Project (PDF)

Sign Up for eSignatures

Municipalities must decide if they want to use eSignatures, an online way to sign grant documents in eGrants. The use of eSignatures is voluntary.  If your organization does not want to use eSignatures, you can print, manually sign, and mail in the grant application signature page and other grant-related documents which require signatures. 

Learn more about eSignatures: Sign Up for eSignatures