The Government of Alberta has introduced new school library standards through a ministerial order issued on July 10.
Alberta's governing United Conservative Party Government decided to act on the matter, noting a lack of consistent standards across school libraries and several books being deemed inappropriate being brought to the government's attention.
"Our actions to ensure that materials in school libraries don't expose children to sexual content were never about banning books," said Demetrios Nicolaides, the Minister of Education and Childcare. "These new standards are to ensure that school boards have clear guidance to ensure age-appropriate access to school library materials, while reflecting the values and priorities of Albertans.鈥�
Sexually explicit content is not permitted at all under the new standards, and non-explicit, age-appropriate educational material may be accessed by students in Grade 10 and above.
"Protecting kids from explicit content is common sense," said Blaine Badiuk, education and LGBTQ advocate. "LGBTQ youth, like all children, deserve to see themselves in stories that are age-appropriate, supportive and affirming 鈥� not in material that sexualizes or confuses them.鈥�
Under the new rules, school boards must regularly review their collections, publish a full list of accessible materials, and ensure that staff assist students in accessing materials. Any books containing sexually explicit content, such as those flagged by the minister leading to these rules, will need to be removed from school collections by Oct. 1, 2025.
Also, under the rules, school boards must develop and have publicly available policies that correspond with the new standards by Jan. 1, 2026. To meet these requirements, school boards can either create new policies or update existing ones.
The policies must show how the schools select and review materials, supervise student access, and how a student, parent, school board employee, or member associated with the school can ask for a review of the material or ask to have it removed. These new polices are to be communicated to school students, staff, and parents before January.
"A robust, grade-and age-appropriate library catalogue is vital for student success," said Holly Bilton, a trustee with Chinook's Edge School Division. "We welcome the ministry's initiative to establish consistent standards and appreciate the ongoing consultation to help craft a plan that will serve our families and communities well."
These new standards will apply to all school libraries in the province except for municipal libraries located within schools.
Nicolaides developed his ministerial order following a public survey, which ran between May 26 and June 6, where nearly 80,000 people gave feedback on the creation of consistent standards for age-appropriate materials in school libraries.
During a press conference on the same day, Nicolaides acknowledged that school boards are facing significant work to go through all their library books, though no additional funding will be forthcoming.
-This story has been updated to include comments from Nicolaides about funding.
