Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her government is revising its controversial directive on book bans in schools to ensure that classic works of literature remain on library shelves.
The original ministerial order, issued last month, required schools to remove books containing sexually explicit material — whether in images, illustrations, audio, or written passages — by the end of September. But after pushback from educators, Smith clarified Tuesday that the new version will focus only on books with graphic sexual images.
“It’s images that we’re concerned about — graphic images,” Smith said at a news conference in Medicine Hat. “We are not trying to remove classics of literature. What we are trying to remove is graphic images that young children should not be having a look at.”
The shift comes after Edmonton Public Schools flagged more than 200 titles for removal under the initial directive, including Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
Smith accused the division of “purposely misunderstanding” the government’s order. She said the intent was never to remove major works of literature, but to prevent children from being exposed to pornographic material.
Hours before Smith’s remarks, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides instructed school divisions to pause compliance efforts while changes are made. In a later statement, Nicolaides confirmed that the Edmonton list prompted the revisions, which he said would be implemented “immediately,” though his office did not provide a timeline.
The original directive applied to all grades, with limited exceptions for students in Grade 10 and higher. School divisions were also expected to develop formal policies by the new year to uphold the ban.
A spokesperson for the Calgary Board of Education said its review of more than 500,000 titles has now been paused following the minister’s email. Other divisions signaled they would also suspend their work.
The controversy has fueled debate about the balance between protecting children and safeguarding access to literature. While the government insists it is targeting explicit images, educators warn the order could still create uncertainty about which titles are safe to keep on library shelves.