Report: Alberta Librarians Feeling Anxious About Complying With New Restrictions Ahead of Jan. 1 Deadline

From the CBC:

Less than five months remain before libraries across Alberta hit a deadline to comply with new restrictions on their collections.

But with a heavy workload and rising costs potentially required to comply with the restrictions, some librarians have lingering questions about how the regulations will be applied.

The restrictions are a result of Bill 28, and call for Alberta’s public libraries to restrict access to materials — including books, graphic novels, magazines, films, TV series and video games — that contain a visual depiction of a sexual act. The new regulations prevent anyone 15 years old or younger from using or borrowing the newly restricted materials without a parent or guardian’s permission.

Libraries have until Jan. 1 to identify what to restrict, where to store them and decide how to regulate their access.

Lesley Moody, manager for the Olds Municipal Library, said some of the bill’s supporters don’t seem to realize this work is more complicated than pulling a few titles off the shelf.

Her library has a collection of roughly 1,500 graphic novels alone to comb through. In some novels with hundreds of illustrated panels, staff will need to search for what could be a handful of drawings that require a book to be restricted.

“Because there is no specific list being provided to us by the provincial government, it will require all of us to meticulously go through every single book in our graphic novel collections,” Moody said.

Moody estimated her staff will need around 600 hours, translating to $15,000 in labour, just to review the graphic novels in their collection.

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