Cashiering Alpena’s library board has won county commissioners some friends. Book banners have dropped opposition to library millage renewal, although the damage has already been done. What mystifies me is why self-appointed morality police have prevailed against the public interest.

By a large majority, Michiganders reject book bans. A 2023 EPIC-MRA survey for the Michigan Library Association found that 80% of respondents believe that “individual parents can set rules for their own children” but have no right “to decide for other parents” what books are appropriate for someone else’s children. Today the monster under the bed is sex. But what will commissioners do when a noisy gang decides that books about slavery, race, certain political ideas, and “that other religion” threaten their children?

Does removing a handful of library books protect kids? What about TV and movies? A 2012 Dartmouth College study of 1,200 children found that teens who watch racier (easily available) films “become sexually active at younger ages, have a greater number of sexual partners, and are less likely (to take precautions).” I’m sure many parents happy with the library board’s cleansing will take their 13- to 15-year-olds to see “Deadpool and Wolverine,” the new blockbuster. This film is R-rated for “strong bloody violence and language throughout, gore and sexual references.” But who cares? It’s fun!

Parenting is hard work. Supervising your own child’s education and activities, including reading, takes time, effort, and especially interest. To shoulder aside another parent and decide what that person’s child may read is beyond arrogant and, in the end, futile. Kids will get the information they want regardless of their parents’ objections.

Resist book bans!

JOHN LAYCOCK,

Presque Isle