There is "strong public support" for action to ensure children don't have age-inappropriate materials in Alberta school libraries, the provincial government claims.
Following the discovery of multiple books with "explicit sexual content" in some school libraries across the province, Alberta’s government conducted a public engagement survey to collect feedback on the creation of consistent standards to ensure the age-appropriateness of materials available to students in school libraries.
From May 26 to June 6, Albertans were invited to share their views through an online survey. The survey was filled out almost 80,000 times, with respondents showing "significant and widespread public interest," the Government of Alberta stated on Friday, June 20.
"Parents, educators and Albertans in general want action to ensure children don’t have access to age-inappropriate materials in school libraries. We will use this valuable input to guide the creation of a provincewide standard to ensure the policy reflects the priorities and values of Albertans," said Demetrios Nicolaides, minister of education and childcare.
Alberta’s government states these provincewide standards will provide school boards with clear and consistent guidelines for selecting and managing age-appropriate materials in school libraries across the province.
When asked in the survey, “At what age should children be able to access materials with sexually explicit content in school libraries,” respondents said:
- never (have access): 42 per cent
- elementary school (age 12 and under): four per cent
- middle school (age 12 and up): 18 per cent
- high school (age 15 and up): 22 per cent
- all ages (should have access): 14 per cent
Sixty-two per cent believe parents and guardians should have a role in reporting or challenging sexually explicit content in school libraries. When asked who should decide what materials are age appropriate in school libraries, the most popular responses were school librarians, teachers and parents.
In May 2025, the Alberta government also conducted a separate public opinion polling of 1,500 adult Albertans on sexually explicit materials in school libraries:
- 51 per cent said such materials should not be permitted in any library accessible to children.
- 94 per cent said these materials should not be available in elementary schools.
- 75 per cent said it’s important for parents to have a say in what materials are present in school libraries.
Out of 196,901 entries, 118,574 duplicates and 932 blank entries were removed, resulting in a total of 77,395 responses. An additional 515 responses were received in the French language survey.
