GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland Public Library has never suffered a budget defeat — and this year was no exception.
The $4 million budget passed easily with over 67 percent of the vote — 1,725 to 842. The budget’s 1.48-percent increase is under the state-set levy limit so a simple majority vote was all that was needed to pass the $4,097,100 spending plan.

“Naturally I had a little bit of worry,” said Timothy Wiles, the library’s director, after the results were announced on Tuesday night.

In addition to facing the same pandemic restrictions as other libraries, Guilderland had the added challenge of being in the midst of an $8 million expansion project. While the library has continued and increased online services as well as providing curbside pick-up, it hasn’t allowed browsing.

“My gut feeling was we’d have similar support to other years,” said Wiles, who shepherded through his eighth library budget.

He said he was thrilled with the support and is eager to welcome the public to the improved library at the end of August — about 11 months ahead of schedule.

In a six-way race for four seats on the library’s board of trustees, the two incumbents — Philip Metzger and Herbert Hennings — were ousted while newcomers Vanessa Threatte, Antonio Rivera, Norina Melita, and Michael Hawrylchak were elected.

Wiles praised the “great contributions” made by Metzger and Hennings and said he looked forward to working with the new board members.

The posts on the 11-member board are unpaid. The terms are typically five years but, because of resignations, just two of the seats this year carry five-year terms. These are the results:

— Vanessa Threatte received the most votes, 1,334, or 51.8 percent, and so won a five-year term. “I’m excited,” she said soon after results were announced on Election Night. “This is my first time running for elected office.”  Threatte, who works as the assistant deputy chief operating officer at the State University of New York, said during her campaign that she felt strongly about issues of access, diversity of experience, and voice. On Election Night, she said, “I think that, because the spirit of the library is to have so many different stories, it is natural to welcome a wide variety of people and viewpoints”;

— Antonio Rivera came in second with 1,280 votes, or 49.7 percent, and so won the second five-year term. Rivera, a pharmacist, also works as a lecturer at SUNY Schenectady and as an ad hoc consultant. “Since I have school-aged children,” he said during his campaign, “I would explore more synergistic opportunities between schools and GPL. Libraries offer many services that help make the community more equitable and some of those services could be used to counter the academic learning losses over the past year”;

— Norina Melita came in third with 1,205 votes, or 46.8 percent, winning a four-year term. “I’m super excited,” she said on Election Night. “I just want to give back to the community.” Melita, who works as a confidential law clerk for a judge in Montgomery County, said during her campaign, “Libraries give me and my kids a sense of peace and calm. There is something homey and safe about spending the day at the library”;

— Michael Hawrylchak got 1,184 votes, or 45.9 percent, and, as the fourth-place finisher, will serve a three-year term. “I’m happy to have an opportunity to serve,” he said on Election Night, noting he had once before been a write-in candidate for library trustee in a year when not enough candidates had filed petitions to get on the ballot. His priorities will be to see the library finish construction and reopen, he said. Hawrylchak, an attorney, said during his campaign, “I would like to help ensure that the library continues to serve as a resource for the community through traditional lending as well as more innovative programs and service”;

— Philip Metzger came in fifth with 1,078 votes or 41.8 percent. Metzger works as a lead systems analyst managing information technology projects for RR Donnelley. He has served as a temporary Guilderland library trustee twice to help fill vacancies. Married to a librarian, he said, “Having this inside connection to the world of libraries, I have become acutely aware of their importance in our society and I understand their needs and challenges in our current environment”;

— Hebert Hennings came in sixth with 882 votes, or 34.2 percent. Like Metzger, Hennings was ousted last year in a five-way race for three seats and then was appointed to fill a vacancy. A retired insurance fund hearing representative, Hennings is a member of the Guilderland Planning Board. “Our library is at a crossroads,” he said during his campaign. “A lot of good things can come out of the construction process to bring the Guilderland library into the 21st Century.”