Prattville library: Attorney's letter demands apology, reinstatement of fired director

The controversy of the Autauga-Prattville Library board of trustee’s firing of director Andrew Foster has entered the legal realm.

An attorney representing Foster sent letters to board members Friday seeking Foster's reinstatement as director, ensuring he has access to the library and seeking to give Foster a chance to “clear his name” in a public setting before an “impartial tribunal.” The letters were written on Foster’s behalf by Christopher Weller, an attorney with the Capell & Howard law firm in Montgomery.

Letters were also sent to board chairman Ray Boles and board attorney Laura Clark demanding “Retraction, Correction & Apology” for alleged erroneous statements made by them about Foster to news organizations.

The letters were to be delivered to board members via registered mail. Boles said Friday morning that he had not received a copy of the letters and could not comment.

Clark did not return phone calls or emails seeking comment for this story.

On March 14 the board held a meeting and fired Foster. He was hired as director in July just as a controversy about the subject matter of some books in the childrens’ section was heating up.

After the meeting a statement was released by the board saying he was fired because he released information about the library following a request by a media outlet. The statement also claimed a “violation of criminal law," though the board did not state a specific violation at the time.

Foster’s firing has created controversy in the community and been the subject of national media attention.

More:Unraveling the tangled Autauga-Prattville library controversy: What's next?

The letters demanding Foster be returned to his position as director allege he was improperly fired. It also claims that the board violated the states’ open meetings act; took part in improper discussions during an executive session; did not give proper notice to its March 16 called meeting during which it appointed an interim library director; and denied Foster due process by denying him access to the library.

The letter alleges that Foster was getting contradictory directions from the board on how the policy of handling books deemed to have references to sex or anything of a sexual nature should be handled.

The letter seeking Foster's reinstatement is 29 pages long and includes copies of emails and other attachments. The letter seeking the retraction, correction and apology from Boles is 28 pages, including attachments, and the letter seeking the retraction, correction and apology from Clark is 30 pages including attachments.

Copies of the letters sent to the Montgomery Advertiser on Friday also included recordings of four conversations apparently between Foster and Boles discussing instructions to move and review books. The Advertiser cannot confirm the authenticity of the recordings, the identity of those speaking, the context of those conversations or if the recordings had been altered in any way.

In the recordings, Foster is told that books with subject matter referencing sexual relations, or books that are sexual in nature, would need to go to the adult section but that books with LGBTQ themes or subject matter would remain in the children's section. Foster seems to express concern about the clarity of the instructions and the need to have decisions made by the full board in open meetings.

The controversy began in May 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. It 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.

The letters sent to the board seeking Foster’s reinstatement said that the action requested would solve the issue and forego the need for possible civil litigation against the board.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.