The Alberta government just announced the new rules that school libraries must follow when it comes to what books they have on their shelves.
The ministerial order on Standards for the Selection, Availability and Access to School Library Materials, announced this week, outlines what the province defines as “explicit sexual content,” and how school boards must regulate the books available to students.
Back in May, Alberta minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides announced that the province was investigating what it deemed to be “inappropriate” books in school libraries. Three of the four books singled out by the government in that announcement were graphic novels with LGBTQ2S+ characters and themes.
Reporting from the Investigative Journalism Foundation found that books were specifically flagged in consultations with the government last year by, among others, Action4Canada, which is a conservative advocacy group with ties to Christian nationalism, the Freedom Convoy and anti-LGBTQ2S+ advocacy.
A public consultation took place in early June, and garnered nearly 80,000 responses that officials say informed the new standards guiding what is defined as “explicit sexual content.”
The new rules apply to both school libraries, and accessible materials in classrooms. School boards must also regularly review their school library collections, publish a full list of available materials somewhere parents can access it and ensure that a staff member supervises students’ access to all school library materials. Religious texts or scriptures are also excluded from these restrictions.
We break down what you need to know about the new standards and when school boards are expected to put them in place.
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