CALGARY, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) — Alberta has released a new set of standards outlining the province’s ban on sexual content in school libraries.
In a September 8 press release, Alberta Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides announced the province’s updated standards that ban sexually explicit books in school libraries.
“Our goal has always been to make sure students are not exposed to visually graphic sexual material in school libraries,” Nicolaides declared.
“I am confident we can meet that goal while making the process as simple and straightforward as possible for schools and teachers,” he continued, adding that the order will ensure “materials with explicit visual depictions of sexual acts do not end up in the hands of children.”
Under the new mandate, school library books must not contain “explicit visual depictions of a sexual act.” The standards clearly explain what types of images are banned due to their pornographic nature.
The order also strengthens transparency regarding what books children are seeing at schools as schools must “establish and maintain a publicly available listing of all school literary materials other than those contained in a classroom collection.”
Additionally, parents must be informed of what books are being kept in the classroom collection.
Alberta schools were given until October 31 to provide a list of books that will be removed under the new standards. The ban will take effect on January 5, 2026. The crackdown on sexual content in school libraries comes after several severely sexually explicit graphic novels were found in school libraries in Calgary and Edmonton.
The United Conservative Party shared a list of the books, unfiltered, some of which can be found in libraries that kindergarten students can access. The books in question, found at multiple school locations, are Gender Queer, an LGBT-themed graphic novel by Maia Kobabe; Flamer, a homosexual graphic novel by Mike Curato; Blankets, a graphic novel by Craig Thompson; and Fun Home, an LGBT-themed graphic novel by Alison Bechdel.
The books show images of multiple sexual acts, including homosexual and transgender as well as pedophilic and incestuous content. It is not yet known if these books have been removed from school shelves.
However, LGBT activists have attacked the new policy as censoring “literature.” According to a list from an Edmonton school, sent to CBC News, over 200 books were being pulled from school libraries, including George Orwell’s 1984 and The Handmaid’s Tale.
Smith quickly responded to these allegations, reaffirming that Alberta is not censoring literature but protecting innocent children from reading pornographic books at school.
“I’m going to be more explicit than usual so there is no misunderstanding this policy,” she wrote on X.
“1. Get graphic pornographic images out of school libraries. 2. Leave the classics on the shelves. 3. We all know the difference between the items in 1 and 2. Let’s not play any more games in implementing this policy for our kids,” Smith declared.
