Letter: 'Straw man' law on book banning

The Jun 13 Daily Herald carried a picture of Gov, J.B. Pritzker, Sen. Laura Murphy and Secretary of State Alex Giannoulas, who was holding his daughter on his lap, where they were celebrating the passage of a law against the banning of books. This is the usual political ploy of creating a "straw man," where first you create a problem that doesn't exist, then you take credit for passing a law against the nonexisting problem.

Supposedly, the law is needed to respond to "a growing wave of antagonism toward libraries." Opponents argue that it will undercut the authority of local library laws and lead to unintended consequences.

This reminds me of Nancy Pelosi's famous statement "pass the bill so you can find out what's in it." Illinois is the only state to have such a law.

Communities go to great lengths to elect competent and willing residents to serve on library boards, and they in turn procure staff that are educated and proficient in their profession. What has happened to the wisdom of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Gary Sheffert

Arlington Heights