Alberta school divisions remove handful of titles from shelves as new school library rules take effect
CBC
A newly enacted provincial order on school literary materials prompted some Alberta school divisions to remove a couple of dozen books from school shelves, but the names of those titles are secret.
In response to a government order to get any explicit, graphic material out of students’ reach, the Calgary Board of Education — the province’s largest school division — identified 44 titles to be pulled from shelves, CBE spokesperson Joanne Anderson said in a statement Tuesday.
It’s a tiny proportion of the approximately 700,000 titles available in the school division’s libraries, she said.
Edmonton Public Schools prepared a working list of 34 books to remove from schools, spokesperson Kim Smith said in an email on Monday. That division carries around 480,000 titles.
“It’s important to note that the list is not exhaustive; it is a living document that can be adjusted,” Smith wrote.
Both divisions refused requests to reveal the list of pulled materials. Smith said the Edmonton Public School Board’s list is an “internal document.”
A spokesperson for the Edmonton Catholic School Division said its review resulted in staff removing six titles from shelves. She did not release the names.
In Elk Island Catholic Schools, east of Edmonton, about 20 staff members reviewed the division’s library collection, and didn’t find anything that would warrant removal under provincial rules, spokesperson Lisa Wispinski said in an email on Tuesday.
“The board maintains full confidence in the discernment and professional judgment of our staff,” Wispinski wrote. “The fact that no materials required removal reinforces our position that local governance remains the most effective model for supporting the unique needs of our students.”
The Calgary Catholic School District and Red Deer Public Schools, likewise, found no material they said warranted removal.
Last May, Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides warned new rules around school library material were coming after a conservative interest group said it had found graphic novels on school shelves with content it felt was inappropriate for minors.
In July, Nicolaides said any sexually explicit books must be removed from schools by October.
A first ministerial order, signed in July, also included written descriptions of sexual acts in its definition of books to be removed.
That led Edmonton Public Schools to prepare a list of more than 200 books to be removed from student access, including The Handmaid’s Tale, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Atlas Shrugged, and Brave New World.
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