By Sarah Stephens
Elmore Autauga News
The Prattville City Council on Tuesday approved two appointments to the Autauga Prattville Public Library Board, but not before guests at the meeting had their say during public comments.
The council voted to reappoint Douglas Darr as well as Donnie Bethel, who is a new appointee.
This vote had been held during the last regular council meeting, as Councilman Marcus Jackson moved to allow more time to look into each of the candidates and hear concerns from citizens.
Prior to the meeting, public comment was available from residents for items on the agenda for the night. The majority of the comments regarded the appointments.
Karen Cooper said that last Winter she had turned in her application to be considered for the board.
“But then I was told that you were looking for someone more neutral, not someone so connected to Clean Up Alabama or Read Freely,” she said.
Cooper said she has been a vocal supporter in of Read Freely, and she understood the decision, as it made sense to pick someone more neutral.
“What doesn’t make sense is your current choices for Library Board nominees. They are not neutral,” she continued.
She said that Bethel has a family member that has supported Clean Up Alabama and spoken publicly of her opinion.
As for Darr, she said as a current member of the Library Board, he has been a part of all of the decisions in the past that led to lawsuits, staffing issues and negative press.
“I trusted you before. I understood your reasoning. It made sense to pick someone neutral. But I don’t understand at all how it would benefit our library to appoint Doug Darr or Don Bethel if you are still attempting to place neutral members on the Library Board.”
Lacy Sutherland is a former library employee, and said she loved working there before she was fired. She spoke of the Library Board’s meeting in March of this year saying, “This current (Library) board unethically fired our director Andrew Foster, most of my coworkers and I closed the library early, in protest.” That action led to her firing from the library as well, she said.
She told the council that nine months later, her position as well as many others have not been replaced.
She said that she and others protested the dismissal of Foster because it was wrong, and she believes Foster and other employees were great.
“I miss my job so much, but I stood up for what is right knowing I was going to lose so much,” she said. She further said that Darr and Bethel are not hiding their affiliation with Clean Up Alabama. Clean Up Alabama is not hiding their affiliation with Moms for Liberty, she said.
“That should tell you everything you need to know,” she said adding that both groups are anti LGBTQ along with other groups and use the argument they are protecting children as an excuse.
“Just look at all the books that were challenged and are gone from the library. Just look at the many lawsuits and negative press that Prattville has gotten since April of last year and please follow the money.”
Angie Hayden approached the council saying it is not hard to realize that the library has devolved since the current board takeover. “The library has been understaffed, has no qualified director and that is no offense to (current director) Mrs. Bear. It is just the fact that a library in a town of Prattville’s size should have a director with a degree for that position. The library is involved in more than one lawsuit.”
She said it was surprising for her that the Council would even consider reappointing a current member of the library board.
“I feel it is past time to move away from this extremism that has caused so many issues for the city,” she said.
Sarah Sanchez spoke in favor of Darr and Bethel.
“Doug Darr has been in his position for a year now, and he has been very faithful. He has served on the board; I have watched him in meetings. I do not know him very well on a personal level, I am just basing on what I have witnessed in the meetings.”
Sanchez said she is a supporter of Clean Up Alabama. “I will wear that jersey proudly, and I have done it from the start. (Darr) is not a part of Clean Up Alabama.”
As for Bethel, she said that his career in the legal field, and he has had to look at things from all sides. She said she did not approve of this issue being tabled at the last meeting.
Councilman Marcus Jackson addressed Sanchez, saying the motion at the last meeting being tabled was not an attack on either of the men’s character.
Will Sanchez, a member of Clean Up Alabama, addressed the council saying he is in favor of protecting children, and not allowing pornographic material in the library. He said that the Library is moving forward, but there are still issues that need to be addressed.
“The team that is there now is fully aware of what needs to be done,” Will Sanchez said.
Councilman Jackson then addressed Sanchez saying he also has concerns about the library.
He said that from what he has heard and read, there seems to be issues concerning black and brown author’s books.
“I hear people say we are protecting kids. I have been in education for 18 years. My job every day is to protect every child. But when I see material out that that is saying we want to we want to remove books by black people, for black people, and looking at other nationalities, how should I feel about that?”
Sanchez said that as for his group with Clean Up Alabama, that has not been an issue they have tried to pursue. He said his group is concerned about intersectionality, sexual content and obscenities. He said the concerns is the content of the material within the library, and not the color of the authors.
Several others spoke in favor of the appointments.
Lori Herring said she wants to thank the Council for all they have done for the city and community.
“I ask you to look past the rhetoric and look to the kids. Because all of this is not political, it is common sense. These kids are not intellectually and morally capable of assimilating the things that I have seen in these books. This is not appropriate for any kid to be getting these books in a publicly funded facility. If their parents want to buy it and give it to them, that is their right. I do not recommend it. I have looked through the books myself and I didn’t want to look at it myself after seeing it.”
She asked that both men be appointed to the board.
“I think they fall in line with the values that most of the community hold dear. I think we need that steady, common-sense leadership. Dealing with these difficult issues, like the building and the APLS guidelines, we need to be a leader in these things. The world is looking at us, and I hope they see something that we can be proud of.”
Jackie Nix then addressed the council. “Some of the books that are targeted, like ‘The Bluest Eye’ or ‘The Hate You Give’, those are not sexual books. They may have passages that have sexual, but it is not a sexual book. These are currently banned. The thought that you have to ban books to be in compliance with APLS rules is just bunk. There are other libraries within this state…and they have not banned books.”
She urged the council to not put the same people back on the board that have caused the issues, including lawsuits.
“Our library has been very much politicized. I am not asking you to put someone there on my side. We want people who are thinking about the library and not a larger political agenda.” She said that while Darr may not be a member of Clean Up Alabama, but after he was appointed the organization “celebrated,” adding she could share screen shots if needed.
“There is an adage that ‘What you allow is what you become.’ We are depending on you to place board members who are not directly aligned with CUA and their extremist view and actions. We need you to place board members that can provide a central counterbalance and will put our library first. Please vote to bring our once vibrant public library back to what we once knew instead of the chaos that we see today.”
Lenny Schaefer said he supports the appointments, and said discretion is important.
“I think the number one important thing here is to protect children and practice discretion. I think the current board practices discretion. When you go to the movie theater, kids can’t go see all the movies. We know which ones are ‘R’. That is what we ask for. There are books that are not appropriate for children. A year or two ago, you would not allow that material to be read in here that was in the children’s section. It took the current board to change that.”
Rachel Bulger said that there is an adult and a kid’s section in the library. Kids do not belong in the adult’s section, but adults should not be told what they can read.
“I don’t want to bash anybody’s character. I don’t know these people. They might be fine and wonderful people. One of them, though, is responsible (for the litigation.) If you don’t do a good job, you don’t get to get rehired.”
She said both sides have heavy opinions, but she asked the Council to remain neutral for all Prattville citizens. “If this is such a big deal, just pick someone else.”
Ell White then spoke, saying, “If you continue to do the same thing and expect a different result, that is the definition of ludicrous. We are here because the Prattville Library is contentious to the point with a lot of different citizens here and we keep doing the same thing. And we are back at the same point.”
White said the Library is losing a lot of revenue, and something should be done.
“We need to be looking at how we are going to move this city in a better direction.”
Marcus Jackson asked White if he had applied for the Library Board. White said he had, but had never heard back.
He continued that the council, in the past, had said the reason for a lack of diversity on committees is because no one of color had applied.
“I took them up on the offer and I came up here and applied. Still nothing.”
He said he is not affiliated with either Read Freely or Clean Up Alabama, but is a veteran and highly educated.
We will have other articles coming on business before the council at the last regular meeting.
