Upgrades to seven community libraries will have to wait since voters nixed the proposed levy Tuesday, but library officials are not discouraged.

"We are disappointed, but not put off at all," said John Hartung, director of the Community Library Network. "This is too important of a project to ignore or forget about."

The library network sought a $4,979,940 levy spread over three years, which was estimated to cost $16.65 per year for taxpayers with a home valued at $200,000. In 2005, the district passed a 20-year bond, for which residents with a home valued at $200,000 pay about $3.32 per year.

Libraries in the Community Library Network are district libraries and include Athol, Spirit Lake, Rathdrum, Post Falls, Hayden and Harrison in Kootenai County, as well as the Pinehurst library in Shoshone County.

The library network held a series of

community focus groups last year to determine the needs of the libraries in the district. While each library has its own list of needs, one thing all the libraries have in common is the need for "flexible space." Most of the libraries are landlocked and therefore unable to expand outward, so the board plans to maximize interior space. All of the libraries need upgrades in technology as well.

Movable shelving and walls, flip-through picture book shelving for kids, intentional quiet areas, electronic charging stations, laptops and updated fixtures and furniture were just some of the improvements the levy would have covered.

The levy needed 55 percent voter approval to pass, but only received 50.6 percent approval. Of 48,719 registered voters, 10,516 voted on the library levy. A total of 5,264 voted in favor of the levy and 5,252 against the levy.

"In an election in other states that don't require super majorities we would have won — by a small amount but it would have still been a win," Hartung said. "We did have more people vote for it than against it."

A couple of library projects are beginning without levy approval, such as new office space in the Post Falls Library because of the need for new staff positions.

The libraries are also home to several youth programs, and Hartung said the youth services department just received two grants, totaling about $8,000 from the Idaho Community Foundation, to start a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) program and book club.

"The library has a lot of things going on now," Hartung said, adding the adult programming and summer reading program are some "major things" coming up at the libraries. "So it's business as usual for the library in that sense."

Hartung said the board plans to do a thorough analysis of strengths and weaknesses regarding what worked and what didn't for the election. He said "if" the board decides to bring the levy back in a year, they will have figured out what needs to change in the proposal and it "probably wouldn't look exactly the way it does now." He could not say when the levy might resurface at this time, but emphasized the library network is not giving up.

"This is not a project that is going away," Hartung said. "We don't see this as a major road block. It's obviously disappointing to all of us, we did put a lot of time and effort into it, but we did not see it as a one-time only shot."