Hello all, Recently I went to apply for a grant from PNC Bank online. I was stopped when I got to the part where their system checks the tax exempt status from the IRS exempt organization database. It seems that public libraries are not listed unless they have a 501 (c) 3 status. I phoned the IRS and was instructed to file form 1023 a few days later when I phoned the IRS to get a clarification on a question I was told that we would need to file for 501 (c ) 3 status first. So my question to the collective wisdom and experience librarians, is there a way to get onto the IRS tax exempt database without filing 501 (c) 3? By the way, according to the IRS libraries are government entities under 509 (A) 170 (B) ( 1) ( a ) ( V) and thus tax exempt but not on the tax exempt database. Curiously, form 1023 does not list the above 509 status but does have the (1) ( a) ( IV) and (VI). More and more foundations are looking at on-line applications and have the same verification step which stops the process. John Sheridan Vicksburg District Library jsheridan@vicksburglibrary.org