Alberta rewriting order banning school library books to protect classics: Smith

By Canadian Press on September 2, 2025.

EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her government is rewriting a ministerial order directing school divisions to ban books containing sexually explicit content to ensure classic books stay on library shelves.

Smith says the order is being changed to only target books that contain images of sexual content.

The initial order covered books with images, illustrations, audio and written passages with sexually explicit content.

Edmonton’s public school division put together a list of more than 200 books to remove from its libraries to comply, including Margaret Atwood’s classic “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

Smith says the government’s order was misunderstood by the division and would be changed to keep the classics in school libraries.

Hours earlier, Alberta’s education minister sent an email to school divisions instructing them to pause efforts to comply with the order until further notice.

The province hasn’t confirmed when the revised order would be issued.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2025.

Jack Farrell and Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press

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