The Buchanan District Library has decided to join a national trend and scrap their late fees.

The library’s director told WSBT that some people see fines as an economic barrier to accessing library materials. Soon after they announced the decision, people began returning overdue materials to the library…some of which they say had been checked out for a very long time. The library says that was one of the goals of the decision.

To make up for the small percentage of their budget that was supplied by the fines, the library intends to step up their fundraising efforts. They also received a grant this year from the Michigan Gateway Community Foundation.