Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced that her government is revising a ministerial order aimed at banning books with sexually explicit content in schools. The new directive will focus solely on books that contain graphic images, ensuring that classic literature remains available in school libraries.

Smith made the announcement during a news conference in Medicine Hat, located southeast of Calgary. She clarified that the initial order, issued last month, included not only images but also illustrations, audio, and written passages deemed sexually explicit. “It’s images that we’re concerned about, graphic images,” Smith stated. “We were hoping that the school boards would be able to identify those on their own and work with us to try to make sure that pornographic images are not being shown to young children.”

The revision follows a response from Edmonton’s public school division, which compiled a list of over 200 books to remove from its libraries to comply with the original order. This list included notable works such as Margaret Atwood’s "The Handmaid’s Tale," Maya Angelou’s "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," and Aldous Huxley’s "Brave New World." Other titles, including George Orwell’s "Nineteen Eighty-Four" and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby," were also set to be inaccessible to students in kindergarten through Grade 9.

Smith accused the Edmonton division of misunderstanding the government’s intentions. “We are not trying to remove classics of literature,” she emphasized. “What we are trying to remove is graphic images that young children should not be having a look at.” She expressed hope that school boards would collaborate with the government on this issue, stating, “What I would like for the school boards to say is: ‘We agree! Children shouldn’t see pornographic images. We’ll work with you on that.’”

In a related development, Alberta’s education minister, Demetrios Nicolaides, sent an email instructing school divisions to pause their compliance efforts with the initial order until further notice. He later confirmed that the list from Edmonton Public Schools prompted the government to make immediate changes to the directive. However, his office did not specify when the revised order would be released.

The original order required schools to remove books with sexually explicit content for all grades by the end of September. Students in Grade 10 and above would still have access to books with non-explicit sexual content. Schools were also expected to establish clear policies by the new year regarding the enforcement of the directive.

Other school divisions were anticipated to create similar lists for book removals, but many halted their efforts following Nicolaides’ email. A spokesperson for the Calgary Board of Education indicated that its review of over 500,000 titles has been paused as a result.