Fired Autauga-Prattville Library Director Andrew Foster is asking for his job back.
Foster, who was dismissed March 14, also asked for apologies, retractions and corrections to “defamatory statements” by library board chair Ray Boles, who fired him, and board attorney Laura Clark. His attorney sent letters to Boles and Clark Thursday.
The legal actions come after a week of turmoil at the local library system. The library board has offered various reasons for firing Foster, saying initially that he revealed confidential information to the press and committed an unspecified “violation of criminal law.”
Boles later gave AL.com multiple different explanations and claimed that Foster acted incorrectly when he complied with an open records request and recorded conversations. Boles told AL.com the issue was subject to a “criminal investigation,” but then said no report had been filed to local police.
Foster’s attorney noted those discrepancies and said his reputation has been damaged.
“Your story has changed more times than Elizabeth Taylor has changed husbands,” according to the documents. “But one fact remains consistent: falsehood.”
Foster claims his termination was surrounded by “false and stigmatizing statements” and incorrect legal advice from Boles and Clark. He also says the decision to fire him was handled improperly under the Alabama Open Meetings Act.
Foster “has never sought to frustrate or interfere with the Board’s implementation of any decision regarding the removal or segregation of controversial books from the library,” according to the documents. Instead, he’s sought clarification from the board on its desire to either remove or relocate books as part of a policy enacted in February to “not purchase or otherwise acquire any material advertised for consumers ages 17 and under which contain content including, but not limited to, obscenity, sexual conduct, sexual intercourse, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender discordance.”
His attorney shared documents that detail email conversations between Foster, Boles, and Clark regarding books that have LGBTQ content or sexually explicit content.
AL.com also reviewed recordings, provided by Foster’s attorney, that detail conversations between Boles and Foster regarding the 113 books Boles delivered to Foster for review and to keep in his office until the board could decide what to do with them. Several of the books had limited LGBTQ connections and little to no sexually explicit content.
“If it has two moms in the book, I’m not worried about that. I’m going after sex and sexuality,” Boles told Foster on Feb. 26. “If two dads are making out in the book, we got to talk about that.”
On March 4, Foster told Boles it would be better for “transparency” for the entire board to discuss the list. Boles said moving them to the adult section would be the best way for people to access them.
In that same conversation, Boles asked if Foster was recording conversations. Foster informed Boles that Alabama is a one-party consent state. Boles told Foster to let others know about recordings “out of decency.”
According to the demand letter, Foster received mixed messages from the board; after Boles referenced moving books, Clark suggested removing them.
“Until we can go over and decide which ones fit policy or which ones don’t, because there again, what I don’t want at all to look like we are attacking the LBGT,” Boles told Foster in a recorded conversation on March 8.
After Foster received a public records request from a reporter, Clark sent an email stating that email communication is “privileged and confidential.”
Alabama’s open records law does not prohibit attorney-client information from being shared; privileged information can be shared at the discretion of the records keeper.
Foster told AL.com this is a “cathartic moment” for him, but he doesn’t expect to get his job back.
“If I am reinstated, I definitely plan to have conversations with my legal counsel about what means and measures I can put in place to protect myself,” Foster said.
While Foster hopes that this will “hold the board accountable for the statements that they’ve made,” he expects the “road to recovery” will be long.
“I truly hate that for not just the library but the people of Prattville and Autauga County,” Foster said.
Foster said even “quiet, peaceful” librarians shouldn’t be easy targets. Instead, these are “people who fight back with the tools of our trade – information and the truth.”
AL.com reached out to Boles and Clark for comment.
