With seven days to spare, Scottdale Public Library officials completed and sent in their application for a Keystone matching grant for up to $500,000.
The purpose of the application is to help fund construction of a new facility along Spring Street in Scottdale that holds a price tag of approximately $1.35 million. Officials have been working for several months trying to raise the $500,000 in matching funds the library needed in order to apply for the maximum amount of $500,000 through the Keystone grant program.
"People really took it seriously that we needed that amount by June 15," said Judy Ermine, president of the library Board of Directors. "Every time we went to the mailbox, there were more contributions. The community really pulled through."
Patti Miller, library director, said members are thrilled to have exceeded their goal of $500,000, currently having raised $522,000.
"Our first goal was to raise the matching funds, and the second goal was applying for the grant," Miller said. "Now the third phase is to continue grant writing to local foundations."
The library just recently received a $150,000 grant from The Richard King Mellon Foundation and a $10,000 grant from the Remmel Foundation through the PNC Advisers Charitable Trust Committee, which will be used toward the construction of the new library.
Although the Keystone grant, part of the state's Park and Conservation Fund, can be awarded for as much as $500,000, there's also a possibility it could be awarded for less. Miller said she is remaining positive, however.
"We've already been recognized by the local organizations and that's a good indication that we've got a good project going here," she said. "People who have worked on these in the past have read over our application, we have the matching funds and we've proven how the project will be completed by putting out feelers at different banks."
Miller added that members also have an advantage over the 15 other applications submitted for the major Keystone grant, because there is no other library in close proximity to Scottdale that has applied.
"There are a lot of factors working in our favor, and I know our grant application is a very good one,"she said. "It's 136 pages long, and it took us a year to get it together."
The library officials could hear as early as November or as late as next March whether the grant was approved and for how much.
"We should hear by the end of the year, and we're hoping we get a good response," Miller said.
Ermine said they have to be in sight of $1 million before they can begin any construction on the new facility.
"If they decide to award us $400,000, we'd consider that being within sight of our goal, but if it were any less, we would have to continue fundraising efforts before we could begin construction," she said.
Ermine added that even if awarded the $500,000, members will still continue to hold fundraisers.
"It's a work in progress," she said. "We still need funds for shelving, landscaping, sidewalks, a patio and a lot of other expenses."
Miller said she also has every confidence in the community and its support.
"That's what this community has always done," she said. "People in this area really cherish having a public library and they've always been 100 percent behind us. We've just always had a really good relationship with the community."
