Library officials, education minister meet over book controversy
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'Our key message was that we feel that decisions about what belongs in school libraries and learning commons are best made by trained educators and librarians,' said Laura Winton, past president of the Library Association of Alberta and the organization's lead on this issue. 'Obviously, he's not in agreement with our viewpoint.'
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In May Nicolaides said the government would be consulting the public about possible standards that could be implemented when it came to books that are available in school libraries. Four books were used as examples of materials that the ministry found objectionable due to their sexually explicit content: Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, Craig Thompson's Blankets, and Flamer by Mike Curato. The four books that were highlighted by Nicolaides deal with 2SLGBTQIA+ themes.
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After the education minister made the announcement, conservative Christian Canadian lobby group Action4Canada said that members of its Calgary chapter had met with Nicolaides and had highlighted the four books in question. Nicolaides confirmed he had met with Action4Canada, but said his decision to look at placing standards on what can and can't go in school libraries was based on wider feedback he received from parents.
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Winton said that if Nicolaides goes through with a ministerial order, which she said was discussed in their meeting, Alberta would be the only province where the government set limits on what goes in school libraries.
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She said if school libraries are asked to do collection reviews, it will tax a system that is already short-staffed.
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'It's really intensive to do a collection review. Weeding is time-intensive and requires trained staff.'
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Nicolaides said he and the librarians disagreed on many points.
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'School boards and parents have been clear, they do not want these types of books on a library shelf where a young student could access them, full stop,' he said in a statement issued Wednesday. 'I'm disappointed the Library Association is advocating against the involvement of parents.
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'During my meeting with the Library Association of Alberta, I asked them if they could provide me with evidence-based, peer-reviewed research and literature that defends exposing young students to oral sex, pedophilia, child molestation, self harm and other extremely sexually explicit material. They had no answer and no evidence to back their claims.'
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Edmonton Journal
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Braid: Ban on sex in school library books gets more explicit than the offending material
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides speaks in Edmonton on April 8, 2025. David Bloom/Postmedia LANGUAGE WARNING: This column contains sexually explicit language, as quoted from a provincial government ministerial order. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by David Staples, Keith Gerein and others, Oilers news from Cult of Hockey, Ask EJ Anything features, the Noon News Roundup and Under the Dome newsletters. Unlimited online access to Edmonton Journal and 15 news sites with one account. Edmonton Journal ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by David Staples, Keith Gerein and others, Oilers news from Cult of Hockey, Ask EJ Anything features, the Noon News Roundup and Under the Dome newsletters. Unlimited online access to Edmonton Journal and 15 news sites with one account. Edmonton Journal ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors I've been reading some hot stuff — sex-related material that Alberta students below Grade 10 are not allowed to see. So, don't look at this column if you're only in Grade 9, OK? We could all get in a lot of trouble. The material quoted here, however, is not from banned graphic novels. It's the government's own language in the July 4 order from Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides, in which he banned sex depictions in school libraries. Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again 'Explicit sexual content,' it says, covers 'masturbation, including touching of a person's own genitals or anus with a finger, artificial sexual organ or other substitute for a sexual organ.' And: 'Contact of a sexual nature between the genitalia, mouth, hand, finger or other body part with the clothed or unclothed genitalia, pubic area, buttocks, anus, or if the person is female, the breast, of another person.' There's more besides, but you get it. You're unlikely to find the order posted in any school library. The rules would violate themselves. The parents who wanted the book ban would go nuts. But government officials, told to think about sex, tend to get very . . . explicit. The ban just keeps growing, lest the slightest salacious hint slip through to children. Exempt from these strictures, however, are any sexual depictions in religious texts, including the Bible. Kids can still be taught, for instance, the remarkable section of Ezekiel that describes a woman whose lovers had genitals like donkeys and emissions like horses. The religious exemption tells us everything about this ban. The most avid proponents are deeply religious people who form a significant part of the UCP's turbulent base. Such bans — and calls for firing of all public school boards — have been pushed by zealots such as Take Back Alberta founder David Parker. This all started with something real: library materials, unearthed by these inflamed advocates, contained images genuinely inappropriate for young kids. Nearly everybody who saw the few examples felt they crossed a line, at least for younger students.
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