Alberta’s education minister is directing school boards to pause a government order to remove books with explicit sexual content from libraries.

Demetrios Nicolaides says in an email to school divisions and officials that they should pause any development or distribution of lists of books that are to be removed.

He says the pause is in effect until further notice.

Related: • Could George Orwell’s ‘1984’ be banned from Alberta’s school libraries? • ‘Pornography is a problem’: Smith defends new rules for Alberta school libraries • Alberta bans explicit sex books in schools; new rules start Oct. 1

A draft list from Edmonton Public Schools of books to be removed from libraries was leaked online last week.

It contains more than 200 titles, including Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s

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