Alberta government pauses ban on school library books containing sexual content

Alberta’s education minister is directing school boards to pause a government order to remove books with explicit sexual content from libraries.

Demetrios Nicolaides, in an email to school divisions and officials Tuesday, said they should pause any development or distribution of lists of books that are to be removed, “including removing materials containing depictions of explicit sexual content.”

He said the pause is in effect until further notice and that more information would be provided to school officials “as soon as possible.”

Nicolaides’ office didn’t immediately respond to questions about the pause.

The government’s move came after a draft list from Edmonton Public Schools of books to be removed from libraries was leaked online last week.

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Edmonton Public Schools to remove more than 200 books to comply with provincial order

It contained more than 200 titles, including Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and more.

The popular Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and Game of Thrones books by George R.R. Martin — both of which were turned into award-winning television series — were also on the EPSB list.

Dozens of additional books were also set to be inaccessible to students in kindergarten through Grade 9, including George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.

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The inclusion of Atwood’s celebrated novel prompted the author to condemn Premier Danielle Smith online over the weekend. She penned a satirical short story that she said could replace her most famous work in Alberta school libraries.

Atwood’s short satire is about two 17-year-olds who “grew up and married each other, and produced five perfect children without ever having sex.”