Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is forgiving “overdue library fees” across the city in an effort to eradicate “generational poverty” throughout the nation’s third largest metropolis.

“Like too many Chicagoans, I know what it is like to grow up in financially-challenging circumstances and understand what it is like to be just one bill or one mistake away from crushing debt,” said Lightfoot.

“This is about educating folks, giving them access to learning, having a safe space where people can come and learn,” she claimed, adding the move will end “regressive practices disproportionately impacting those who can least afford it, ensure every Chicagoan can utilize our city’s services and resources, and eliminate the cycles of debt and generational poverty because of a few mistakes.”

The announcement comes as city officials struggle to control the region’s out-of-control gun violence and homicide rate.

Last month, Lightfoot announced her plans to combat gun crime by “trimming trees” and “removing beer cans.”

“All of this was the result of an innovative effort in Chicago to reduce gun violence by beautifying public spaces where shootings are most likely to occur. City leaders have boosted spending on sprucing up streets, vacant lots and public transportation lines, putting Chicago at the forefront of a movement to harness neighborhood beautification initiatives as a prescription for the violence that has cauterized daily life,” reports the Chicago Sun Times.

“This year, Chicago directed $7.4 million to workforce-development programs that put high-risk individuals to work greening areas in neighborhoods with high rates of shootings,” adds the newspaper.

“There is something about physical space that signals whether or not this is an area where crime can happen,” said an assistant professor at the University of Michigan. “This literature goes way back into the 1970s, and there’s a lot of evidence to support it.”

Read the full report at Fox News.