NILES — There was a lot weighing on Tuesday night’s primary election for the Niles District Library as votes began to pour in to the polls.

Voters decided Tuesday whether they were for or against a proposed millage to fund critical building repairs. Early this morning, unofficial results on Berrien County’s website announced that the millage had passed by 809 votes, with a total of 1725 votes. There were 916 votes in opposition.

The millage called for constituents to vote in favor of a five-year millage of 25 cents per $1,000 of taxable value. Funding from the millage would be used for critical building maintenance and is expected to garner about $131,000 throughout the first year. Such upgrades would include replacing the roof on the west side of the building, which has been estimated to cost about $195,000. Other major repairs covered by the millage include upgrades for the bathrooms, which would be remodeled to be compliant with the American Disabilities Act – estimated to cost about $40,000. If passed, the millage would begin in January 2019.

Hours leading up to the election Tuesday night, Nancy Studebaker, the director of the Niles District Library, worked in her office. She wore an “I voted” sticker and said she felt some optimism for the millage passing Tuesday night.

“Everybody I know is voting for it,” Studebaker said. “We have appreciated the outpouring of support from the community. For weeks now, people have been coming in and saying, ‘I’m going to vote for it,’ because the people that come to the library love the library.”

Without the millage in place, Studebaker said the library would have had to find other ways to find funding for the projects. This, she said would likely mean cutting down man hours and service hours at the library. A financial meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday and Studebaker said she has created a plan for either outcome, but could not divulge many details until the results were in.

Studebaker said she was proud of her staff and all they have given to the community through their roles at the library.

“The main thing is I have staff that are so eager and creative in finding ways to benefit the community – in ways that probably a lot of people don’t even know about,” Studebaker said. “They are so passionate about it, it is going to be hard for them to pull in the reins a little bit. It is amazing what they can do in the amount of time they have.”

If the millage were voted down, Studebaker said it would feel like the library has a lack of support from its community.

“They would feel concerned for themselves but also disappointed,” Studebaker said.