GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The Greensboro Public Library is starting to reopen, with curbside delivery and grab-and-go services.

However, something that won't be a part of the system in the future is late fees.

Beginning August 1, the library is removing the practice, and forgiving outstanding fines.

“We hear stories all the time of either a child, or a parent and child coming in, and wanting to check out books and then they get to the register, and find out they can’t because they owe us $20 or $25 and that wasn’t because the book was lost or damaged. It’s because they returned it late,” Director Brigitte Blanton says.

Other libraries, like Wake County's, have been operating without late fees for months. The goal for both systems was to remove barriers. Many people who use the library's free resources don't have extra money to spend on fines, and it stops them from future use.

Blanton says the move comes from a citywide initiative to make sure their practices remove any racial or social inequities.

“We’re preparing people to be able to do what it is they were destined to do. So that far outweighs the amount of money that we take in in fines,” Blanton says.