The Alberta Government asked for your feedback on books in school libraries, and 77,395 of you responded!

The results, of course, confirmed what we, here at the Alberta Parents’ Union, regularly hear from parents like you.

Parents overwhelmingly oppose sexually explicit content in school libraries, and they want a greater say in what their children are exposed to in the classroom

Among K-12 parents who responded to the survey, 42% said children, of any age, should never be able to access sexually explicit content at school.

Only 4% said such content should be available to elementary students.

The rest were divided between middle school (18%), high school (22%), and all ages (14%).

As we were quoted saying by the CBC:

"That's an overwhelming consensus from parents to keep it out of elementary schools. That's a strong basis to at least start there."

We hear about this issue from our members all the time, so we’re not surprised by how strongly parents feel.

What is concerning, however, is just how wide the gap is between parents and librarians.

Nearly 50% of K-12 parents strongly agree that "parents and guardians [should] play a role in reporting or challenging the availability of materials with sexually explicit content in school libraries".

Nearly 70% of parents agree, while less than 50% of librarians do, and only 12% agree strongly.

Based on the wording of the question, that means a majority of librarians can't see any role for parents in setting standards for school libraries.

The same pattern is shown in support for parental consent being required as an alternative to removing titles entirely.

K-12 Parents strongly agreed with this solution at a rate of 43%, while only 12% librarians felt the same way.

If consensus is going to be, frankly, impossible, the question becomes who gets to decide?

As we told rdnewsNOW:

The Alberta Parents' Union was formed around the conviction that parents - not politicians and not school librarians - are the real experts in our own kids.

If parents believe material is age-inappropriate for their child, it is.

It's also important to remember that school librarians do believe there are age-inappropriate topics, at least for curriculum standards - as does the Alberta Teachers' Association.

Unfortunately, the topics they deem inappropriate for the youngest students are the Roman Empire, the Silk Road, and Charlemagne.

So they have no issue with the idea that some material is only appropriate for some ages.

They just want to be the ones to decide, rather than leaving it to parents.

Overall, these survey results, the statements of librarians, and the positions of the associations they belong to - including the Alberta Teachers’ Association - are troubling to us.

They raise the concern that these graphic sexual images in school libraries may be an ongoing problem, not isolated incidents.

Parents are the real experts in our own kids, and that expertise needs to be trusted for the project of schooling itself to be trusted.

As our friend, Robert Pondiscio, says:

"Public schools cannot be both a core government service and a platform for personal or political expression. The tension between those roles has been allowed to fester unexamined for too long."

Parents entrust the most precious thing we can to our children's schools.

That trust is absolutely essential, but it is fragile.

As even the Library Association of Alberta admits:

"responsibility to control access to library materials by children rests with parents."

That responsibility can be delegated, but it can never be deleted.

The Alberta Parents’ Union is encouraging the provincial government to take these results seriously, to share our concern with what it reveals about the attitudes of librarians, and ensure school library policies reflect the values of families.