Canadian School Libraries (CSL) Statement on Alberta’s Announcement Regarding Possible Book Bannings

May 26, 2025

For immediate release

Canadian School Libraries is deeply troubled by the announcement of the Alberta Education minister today. The Calgary and Edmonton Public School Boards statements that they were not consulted or made aware of any concerns prior to this announcement is cause for additional concern. The timing and nature of this announcement leads us to believe that no effort was made by the Alberta Education Minister to involve educators in this matter or to work with school boards around their concerns. By not specifying which books were in K-9 and which were in high schools, there is an attempt to make it seem like all four texts were in K-9. None of the books appear in either the Calgary or Edmonton public schools’ online catalogs.

Cutbacks to school library professionals in Alberta, particularly teacher-librarians, have been ongoing for some time. Late last year, the Alberta School Library Association dissolved, due to ongoing cuts to the role. There are few schools with trained teacher-librarians making book selections, except in a handful of cases.

Not every book in a school library is meant for every student. Schools need to have a wide range of age and developmentally appropriate resources that cover the needs of the student population.

School library collections, with a richness and diversity that allows students to see themselves and experience lives other than their own, are developed within the lens of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the rights and freedoms it affords to all Canadians, including children.There is no one size fits all model that can easily be applied to every school. Without trained specialists to make these decisions, it is not surprising that issues would arise.

There is also an enormous difference between content that is being actively taught in a school through use of a resource, and content that can be self-selected in a school library learning commons. Students do need some level of access to works that challenge them. For example, in Blankets, one of the novels deemed inappropriate, the sexual abuse that is detailed is something, unfortunately, some students will have had to deal with. Many won’t have been able to talk to anyone about such an event, but through connecting with works like this can find catharsis in reading and understanding someone else’s experience. When a school library is properly staffed by trained professionals, there are opportunities to engage students in conversations about the books they are choosing and help them make selections that fit their developmental maturity.

While public input can be valuable, it is quite concerning that there appears to have been no attempt to get trained professional input, or any attempt to understand under what criteria the books were selected.

Additional reading:

School Libraries and Curriculum Under Attack: Why? and What to Do? | Centre for Free Expression

Censors Are Targeting Schools: Hardly New but Deeply Troubling – Canadian School Libraries Journal

The Canadian Library Challenges Database | Centre for Free Expression

(Via Canadian School Libraries)