BUCHANAN — Voters will be asked Tuesday whether or not to approve a new tax levy that would allow the Buchanan District Library to expand its hours and programs, hire new staff and pay for additional books and other media.

If the proposal passes, the library will be able to collect up to .3 mill each year for 10 years from all properties within the district of the Buchanan District Library.

Library Director Barbara Wallace said it would cost the average property owner about $20 a year based on a person whose home has a taxable value of $65,000, which equates to a real value of about $130,000.

“To me this is a community that values its library and uses its library,” said Wallace. “This extra money will allow us to serve the community in better ways. These are immediate changes they are going to be able to take advantage of and they are things the community has been asking for for a long time.”

The approximately $91,000 generated each year from the levy would allow the library to immediately reinstate a six-day-a-week schedule (it is closed Sundays and Mondays now).

Wallace said the library would be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays beginning Aug. 10 — the first Monday after the election. While it won’t happen right away, Wallace said the goal would be to expand its Monday through Thursday hours to 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the near future.

“We’ve got a lot of people that come in and use the library as a work space… being open later in the evening gives people who work during the day a chance to get in and gives students more time to do homework,” she said, adding that people would also benefit from meeting rooms being available later.

If the proposal passes, Wallace said the library plans to hire additional employees and expand hours for part-time employees.

“We will have to look at the money and determine if it is better to have extra full-time staff or to hire new part-time staff, but certainly we will need more staff one way or another,” she said.

The additional revenue would also allow the library to upgrade its books and online resources, while covering utility costs that have gone up as a result of recent renovations.

Since 2000, the Buchanan District Library has been supported by a .9 operating millage and a .3 bond debt millage that was paid off in 2014 — one year early.

“While the language on the ballot says ‘new’… really it is the same amount the community has already been accustomed to paying for 10 years,” Wallace said. “Except this time it is not a bond debt, it is for operating expenses.”

Wallace said there has been some confusion in the community about a portion of the proposal’s ballot language that says 1.1 percent of revenue generated by the millage could be collected by or distributed to three entities — the Buchanan Downtown Development Authority, Buchanan Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and Berrien County Land Bank Authority.

Wallace said that the 1.1 percent would amount to less than $1,000 a year and that it had to be included in the proposal by law.

Last year, the library had nearly 40,000 visitors, 8,000 WIFI users, 7,300 program attendees and 57,000 items circulated.