By Erin L. Cox, Publisher | @erinlcox
‘Book bans divert educators’ time and public resources toward censorship, rather than education, while yielding no benefit for students.’
Last week, The Association of Canadian Publishers (ACP), the Canadian Publishers’ Council (CPC), and the Literary Press Group of Canada (LPG) issued a release strongly condemning the Government of the province of Alberta for their decision to ban books in school libraries.
“The implementation of this policy confirms the concerns previously raised by our organizations and echoed by educators, librarians, publishers, authors, and students from the outset: this directive restricts access to literature, undermines professional expertise, and diverts scarce public resources away from where they are most urgently needed.”
The story was first highlighted in our sister publication Words & Money last month. The move to remove these books began in May 2025 when Demetrios Nicolaides, the Alberta Minister of Education and Childcare, noted that books from local school libraries featuring graphic and age-inappropriate material were brought to his attention and sparked this move.
In September, Nicolaides signed a ministerial order outlining the “Standards for the Selection, Availability and Access of School Literary Materials” in which he clearly outlines the types of materials that must be removed from shelves. In the order, he provides deadlines for providing a list of books that do not meet the new requirements (October 31, 2025) as well as a January 5, 2026 deadline by which the removal of said books must take place.
The order sparked a costly and time-consuming review that resulted in 42 books being removed from school shelves in Calgary before students returned from winter break, while Edmonton Public Schools removed 33 titles. Here is a full list of the titles removed though the four titles that seem to have sparked the situation are four award-winning, critically-acclaimed, and often-challenged coming-of-age graphic novels: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Flamer by Mike Curato, Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, and Blankets by Craig Thompson.
Much like in the United States where book banning in school libraries takes place regularly, the list of titles were brought to Nicolaides’ attention by parents who are reportedly members of two conservative groups the Parents for Choice in Education (PCE) and Action4Canada.
An article on the situation by the Investigative Journalism Foundation noted that “Action4Canada has led campaigns to have sexual education and 2SLGBTQ+ themed books removed from public and school libraries in several provinces.”
In response to these books officially being removed from school libraries across the province, Alana Wilcox, President of the Association of Canadian Publishers said, “Book bans divert educators’ time and public resources toward censorship, rather than education, while yielding no benefit for students.”
“This process has wasted time, eroded trust in educators, and restricted access to literature—at a moment when Alberta’s education system needs support, not political interference.”
In the release, the ACP, CPC, and LPG have made a call on the Government of Alberta to “repeal this harmful directive in its entirety; end top-down approaches to education policy that bypass meaningful consultation with educators, librarians, students, families, and publishers; and commit to developing future policies that respect student rights, professional expertise, and democratic values, while supporting—not restricting—access to a wide range of literature.”
At this reporting, there has been no response from Nicolaides or the Government of Alberta.