As the City Council appointed Trustee for the Edmonton Public Library Board, I am deeply concerned about the Alberta government's proposed changes that would limit access to materials in our public libraries through Bill 28.
Public libraries are an incredibly valuable resource. They are one of the few publicly accessible forms of education, entertainment, and digital access completely free of charge to everyone. Not to mention literacy programs supporting language, research, and technology, social spaces, opportunities to learn and collaborate, and makerspaces – all accessible to anyone.
As a result, approximately 99% of Albertans live in a community served by a public library. These spaces help bridge gaps in access to information that many people elsewhere in the world still face. And we have 21 branches, right here in Edmonton. It’s so easy to forget just how privileged we are to have these resources when we see and use them every day without a second thought.
While the provincial government's publicly stated intent is to limit young people’s access to visual sexually graphic materials, the bill’s language does not clearly reflect this goal, and the proposed changes bring genuine privacy risks to Albertans of all ages and concerns about censorship.
This bill opens the door to age-verification requirements through future regulations. Because those regulations have not been shared, libraries and the public have no clear answers about how privacy will be protected or how these rules would work in practice. The potential for people to have their personal public library accounts monitored is deeply problematic in our free society.
It’s important to situate the conversation in the context of what is actually happening on the ground:
- Public libraries already organize their collections by age appropriate material, these are in designated sections for children, youth, and adults.
- Parents already have the right to make decisions about their children’s library usage.
This bill is not about protecting young people; rather, it’s about creating barriers that are not needed or wanted by the large majority of Albertans. Recent polling shows that 82% of Albertans trust their local public library to make appropriate decisions about what materials are available.
Our public libraries are built on the foundational basis of intellectual freedom. The right of every individual to hold any opinion, seek information from all viewpoints, and express ideas without restriction or censorship. These basic freedoms are what makes our democracy so multifaceted, because we have the tools and resources to share ideas, question them, and grow to be a more open society. These rights should be safe from overreach by the government, regardless of party.
Day-to-day decisions are made by library professionals who understand their patrons’ needs intimately, as those needs vary from one community to another. Libraries and boards were not consulted about the nature or practicalities of the proposed changes in Bill 28. The professionals who are responsible for implementation must have a voice in these matters.
Leaders are speaking out about the logistical challenges of age verification and spatial limitations for separated materials. There will be additional costs involved, more time required and potentially more staffing to do it. The money has to come from somewhere, and as we have seen one too many times, this often falls on the shoulders of already strapped municipalities in the form of property tax increases.
Ultimately, Bill 28 runs counter to the very values of our province. Albertans believe fiercely in freedom, privacy, and keeping things local. In a time when fiscal responsibility and lessening bureaucratic barriers are what constituents are asking for, why would we go backwards?
I am actively advocating on behalf of our municipal public libraries and our confidence in their own governance. This week at Council, I’ll make a motion to request that the Mayor, on behalf of City Council, write to the Government of Alberta and express concern over Bill 28's potential impact on local library governance, privacy, and service quality. It also requests that any new operational requirements that would emerge from the enactment of Bill 28 be accompanied by provincial funding.
I encourage you to share your thoughts as this is a decision that will fundamentally change the way our municipal assets are available to Edmontonians.
Erin.
