This story was updated at 1:40 p.m.

Anyone holding onto an overdue library book during the coronavirus shutdown no longer has to worry about racking up late fees.

The library’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to eliminate all overdue fines during its May board meeting last week.

“Overdue fines create barriers to access for the very populations the library works to serve — low-income residents — and are not an effective tool to encourage on-time return of library material,” the board said in a document explaining the new policy. The library found that Wards 5, 7 and 8 had the highest numbers of blocked accounts.

Late fees do not make up a significant portion of the library system’s operating budget, according to executive director Richard Reyes-Gavilan.

DC Public Library collected approximately $106,000 in fines and fees during fiscal 2014 and returned that money to the city’s general fund. Meanwhile, its operating budget for the next fiscal year was more than $57.4 million.

In 2015, the library eliminated fines and fees for patrons who are 19 years old and younger; the new policy expands that rule to all account holders, regardless of age.

“Staff already had the ability to waive fees for individual patrons, and they often do so,” said library spokesman George Williams. “Our priority has been, how do we remove barriers so people can continue to use the library?”

The library will still charge for permanently lost items.

Eliminating late fees has become a trend at library systems around the country. The movement picked up steam in January 2019, when the American Library Association passed a resolution calling fines “an economic barrier to access of library materials and services.” It urged library systems to find ways to eliminate fines and fees.

One by one, library systems began to change their policies. NPR reported that San Diego Public Library found nearly half of its patrons with blocked accounts due to late fees lived in two of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. It wiped out more than 130,000 late fines for patrons in April 2019.

An internal study by Chicago Public Library revealed that more than 30% of South Side residents couldn’t check out materials because they had reached the $10 fine limit for overdue materials. It removed all late fees in October.

The public library systems in Philadelphia and Los Angeles announced they were ending their late fee policies in December.

Fines often cost libraries more money than they bring in. San Diego officials said they used to spend nearly $1 million to collect $675,000 in library fees each year. The no-late-fees policy freed up staff time, a conclusion echoed by the American Library Association resolution.

DC Public Library last overhauled its fine policy in 2012, replacing daily fines with flat $5 overdue fee for materials more than 30 days late, and $8-$20 replacement fee for lost materials. Patrons with more than $40 in overdue fines had their accounts temporarily blocked.

That change was sparked by a two-month amnesty experiment. The library forgave more than $100,000 in fines and received back more than 21,000 books, DVDs and other materials that had racked up late fees.

“Libraries exist to give people access to books,” said Ginnie Cooper, the city’s chief librarian at the time. “When fines and fees keep people away from the library, we need to find ways to encourage them to return.”

This story was updated with newly released details about the library’s late fee policy.