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Alberta rewrites school library rules after uproar over banned books
EDMONTON — Alberta has revised its rules on books in schools to ban works with explicit images of sexual acts, but not written descriptions, following backlash over a school board’s plan to pull more than 200 titles from shelves.
The original ministerial order, issued in July, directed school staff to remove materials that included “a written passage” describing sexual acts. Edmonton Public Schools responded by drafting a list of 226 books for removal, including The Handmaid’s Tale, The Color Purple, The Godfather, Jaws and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The list also included Brave New World and Atlas Shrugged.
The uproar over that list prompted Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides to pause implementation and revisit the policy. The revised order, released Monday, specifies that only materials with “visual depictions” of sexual acts must be removed, while affirming that “classic literary works” should remain accessible.
“Visual depiction means a visual or graphic representation, such as a drawing or painting, an illustration, a photographic or digital image or a video file,” the order reads. Anatomy texts and religious books are exempt.
“We want to ensure that material that has extremely graphic and explicit visual depictions of sexual activities is not made available at school libraries,” Nicolaides told reporters. “That’s been our concern from the very beginning and the updated ministerial order really focuses on that concern.”
The government also removed an earlier age-based distinction that would have allowed high school students to access non-explicit sexual content in literature. Instead, the new order applies to all grades equally.
To give schools more time, the compliance deadline has been extended from Oct. 1 to Jan. 5, 2026. School boards, charter schools and independent schools must still provide Nicolaides with a list of materials they plan to remove by Oct. 31. The minister said the province does not intend to publish those lists but wants oversight to ensure rules are applied consistently.
The first order, approved June 17 and published July 4, was prompted by lobbying to remove four graphic novels from schools, some of which contained depictions of child sexual assault and sex acts.
When Edmonton Public Schools’ draft list became public, Premier Danielle Smith accused the division of “vicious compliance” and being overzealous. Teachers, meanwhile, posted photos of bare or covered classroom shelves on social media, saying they lacked time to catalogue their libraries before the school year began.
The new order requires schools to keep a public list of library materials and ensure parents know what is in classroom collections. Nicolaides said teachers do not have to prepare formal lists — they could instead photograph shelves or allow parents to browse collections.
“We don’t want teachers boxing up their classroom collections,” he said.
Schools must also adopt a policy by January for handling complaints about literary materials.
The NDP is holding a media briefing to respond to the new rules later today.
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