Autauga-Prattville library asks fired employees to return to work

PRATTVILLE ? The Autauga-Prattville Library system opened on time Friday, a day after trustees fired director Andrew Foster and later fired four employees who closed the Prattville building in protest, said Ray Boles, board chairman.

Boles said the library system will operate as normal and that the four fired employees had been asked to return to the job. He said one of the employees had returned to work at the library, another is considering returning to work and two have decided not to return to work.

Foster was fired after a special called board meeting for disclosing confidential information to the media, Boles said. Foster could not be reached for comment Friday, but has said that he only complied with a legal records request.

“I was never directly told that information was not go out,” Foster told the Alabama Reflector. “I shared the information because that was included in the range of the request, and again I have not tried to hide. I am not ashamed of anything I have done. Sharing has been my policy since the very beginning of starting this position in July.”

The board will have a special meeting at 9 a.m. Saturday at the main branch to appoint an interim director.

“So we will be open and operating as normal, and that goes for the branches in the county,” Boles said, referring to branches in Autaugaville, Billingsley and Marbury. “We have volunteers coming in today to help with staffing. We have increased the hours of part-time employees.

“Hopefully we can begin the process to get a new director in place soon.”

More: How an LGBTQ library book ban galvanized a small Alabama community

The library has been the focus of controversy in the community for several months over the nature of books allowed in the children’s section. Dueling groups have addressed the Prattville City Council and Autauga County Commission over the matter, since those boards appoint the trustees. The governments appoint the trustees and provide funding for the library system, but the library trustees are an independent, codified board that handles the operations of the system.

One group opposes books it says contains sexually suggestive language and references to LGBTQ subject matter. The other group wants no restrictions on books in the children’s section, relying on parents to determine what their children should and should not read.

The controversy came to a head in late 2023 when the then-serving board of trustees members resigned en masse after the county commission appointed trustees to open slots without first consulting the existing trustees.

That has resulted in an entirely new board of trustees, with one slot remaining to be appointed by the city council.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Autauga-Prattville library asks fired employees to return to work