Hollis residents voted Tuesday to give the Hollis Center Public Library funding traditionally approved by the Select Board.

Resident voted 399-187 in favor of allocating $35,150 to the non-municipal library, which has received money in the annual town budget for decades to help cover its annual operating costs. But this year, the library’s trustees found themselves in a fight for funding for the first time. 

The Select Board initially wanted to drop that allocation to $29,000 as it tried to trim money from the budget to avoid tax increases. After library trustees asked to put a separate request for the $6,000 difference on the town meeting ballot, the board voted to take the $29,000 off the table entirely.

Library trustees collected 344 signatures to put their funding request on the ballot.

The Hollis Center Public Library is an independent non-profit and one of two libraries in town. The municipal Salmon Falls Library received $38,800 in the budget approved by voters Tuesday.