Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
The Autauga-Prattville Public Library Board held a special meeting Saturday morning and appointed Tammy Bear as the interim library director. This was to fill former director Andrew Foster’s position, who was fired by the Board in a special called meeting last Thursday.
The meeting lasted just one minute and 20 seconds. When asked how they made the selection Boles replied, “We made a selection, it was real easy,” Boles said.
When questioned by reporters Boles refused further comment.
Prior to the meeting members of the community and Read Freely Alabama held signs in protest of Ray Boles and the Board. Some of the signs read “Save the Prattville Library!” “Ban Bigots not books,” and “The library belongs to the people, not Ray Boles,” among others.
Members of Clean up Alabama were also present at Saturday morning’s meeting.
After the meeting, people in attendance were ushered out of the library as the library does not open until 10 a.m. on Saturdays. One member in attendance yelled “Everyone be careful on your way out, there’s books in here and they’re terrifying,” as that individual left the building.
Mayor Bill Gillespie was in attendance at the meeting and stated that the Library Board is a separate entity from the city. He said he is personally doing his own research on if the city owns the property on which the library building sits. In the future he would like to see the library and creative arts cohabitate or renovations be done to the library to facilitate that as Prattville grows.
“I was only here to see how everything went this morning and I’d be glad to talk (on his and the City of Prattville’s stance on the library Board) at a later date,” Gillespie said.
A husband of a library staff member who wishes to remain anonymous stated that library staff have been heckled by Cleanup Alabama members in the past and was visibly distraught over his wife’s safety at her place of employment.
“The staff has had racial slurs called against them, being followed around by Cleanup Alabama people, calling them pedophiles and stuff like that. Who runs a business to where they have people that are following each other and not doing a damn thing about it?” the anonymous husband said.
Bear was formerly a staff member as a library associate before serving as interim director. She stated that she found out the news last night and that all questions on her employment have to go through the Board.
