Prattville library gets interim director amid book ban controversy

PRATTVILLE ? The Autauga-Prattville Library Board of Trustees took less than 45 seconds to appoint an interim library director in a special called meeting Saturday morning, following two days of controversy after they board fired former director Andrew Foster.

Tammy Bear, a library system employee, was appointed interim director. The library and actions of boards, past and present, have been the subject of controversy in the community, after a group began protesting subject matter of some of the books in the children's section.

After the Thursday meeting when Foster was fired, employees of the main branch in Prattville closed the building in protest. Boles fired the four employees, and then asked them to return to work for the system on Friday. The system employs 17 full- and part-time workers, and five employees have quit since Thursday, Bear said.

Foster was hired as director in July, just as the controversy was beginning to develop.

“The first thing I want the interim director to do is start hiring people,” board chairman Ray Boles said, before the meeting. “I don’t want the library closed for one day. I want it to be open and operating as normal to serve the citizens.”

The meeting was attended by Boles and trustees Rachel Wood Daniels, Gloria Kuykendall and Quincy Minor. Those were the same members who attended the Thursday meeting when Foster was fired. The appointment of Bear was unanimous, as was the firing of Foster.

Before the meeting began, about 30 protestors and supporters of Foster gathered on the front lawn of the main branch. Some held signs, one reading “Ban Bigots, Not Books.” Board members entered the building through the back door. The meeting was open to the public, but people were not allowed to bring signs inside.

Before the meeting, Boles told the Advertiser that Foster was fired because he ignored directions about reviewing a list of books currently in the children's section. The list was provided by concerned parents who feared the content content "was sexual in nature" and Foster was told to review them for a possible move to the adult section, Boles said.

“I told him any book that was (LGBTQ) in nature, to highlight them on the list," Boles said. "I wanted to review those books, to put them back in the children's section. I wanted parents to make the decision of what books their children could check out. He pulled all the books and told me that’s what our policy said to do. We didn’t want any book banned or removed. But if it had sexual nature, I wanted it in the adult section.”

Foster could not immediately be reached for comment.

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

As reported by the Alabama Reflector and others, a different statement was released to the media Thursday in the wake of Foster's firing. The two-sentence statement said that Foster was terminated “for revealing confidential information to the press.” Scrawled on the paper containing the statement was an arrow, starting underneath the word “press,” and continuing underneath the statement which read “and violation of criminal law.” The board did not provide any evidence of wrongdoing, the Reflector reported.

“Let me make a statement to the media,” Boles said at that meeting. “I have a written statement, which you may have. There will be nobody talking to the media other than the written statement.”

Foster told the Reflector that the “confidential information” the board referred to involved a records request that he fulfilled featuring emails between himself, the trustees and Laura Clark, an attorney hired by board members last month.

“I was never directly told that information was not to go out,” Foster said. “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."

Before the Saturday board meeting, Boles denied that the board is taking action against the LGBTQ community, or books with LGBTQ themes.

“This is not about doing anything against (LGBTQ people), they are a part of this community,” he said. “I have friends that are LG, and I love them. I wanted to show the mad mommas that we took their concerns to heart and that any books that had a sexual nature were moved out of the children’s section.

“It was never about banning books or removing books. Foster pulled the books and wouldn’t put them back on the shelves in the adult section.”

The controversy began when dueling groups addressed the Prattville City Council and Autauga County Commission in May over the subject matter of some books in the children's section, 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 opposed books it said contained sexually suggestive language and references to LGBTQ subject matter. The other group wanted 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 board of trustees members resigned en masse after the county commission appointed trustees to open slots without first consulting the existing trustees. That led to an entirely new board of trustees, with one slot remaining to be appointed by the city council.

Boles said the board wants to hire a new director as quickly as possible. He said he's confident the board can find a qualified candidate despite the ongoing controversy.

“I still think there are people out there with good hearts who want to serve,” he said.

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

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Prattville library gets interim director amid book ban controversy