The public deserves results of local school divisions’ bookshelf clearing

By Lethbridge Herald on January 22, 2026.

Editor:

In the first week of January, the UCP’s battle with school libraries ended. Following the ministerial order, schools in Alberta yanked all so-called “graphic” visual materials from their libraries.

The results were varied. While the Calgary Board of Education tossed 44 titles, the Edmonton Catholic School Division pulled only 6 from their collections. Edmonton’s Public School Board trashed 34 titles, but the Calgary Catholic School District and Red Deer Public Schools reportedly found nothing that needed shredding.

Arguably, this is a happy ending story. According to the Calgary Board, the removal of 44 titles from a collection of roughly 700, 000 titles is a small figure. But for those of us who value schools, libraries, and the freedom to read, there are big problems.

To begin, the book ban controversy started last spring, instigated by a right wing lobby group called Action4Canada. Not surprisingly, the A4C’s concern focused on LGBTQ+ materials, and Education Minister Nicolaides willingly turned their prejudices into policy. When a fringe lobby influences our school systems, we’re all in trouble.

What’s most alarming: the public has been given numbers, but the actual titles of the banned books have not been released and remain a mystery. Were they books with LGBTQ+ themes? Were they sex education texts? As a result, it’s impossible to discuss the merits of the banned books. Clearly this silence is intended to quell debate.

Yet the questions don’’t disappear. Thinking locally, we must ask, How did Lethbridge School Division and Holy Spirit Catholic School Division comply with the order? To the best of my knowledge, they’ve not reported the results of their own obligatory search-and-destroy mission, but the public deserves to know.

Jacob Bachinger, Lethbridge

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