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Single mom faces jail time after son laughs in library

Libraries are generally thought of as quiet places and one U.S. library security guard and staffer take that very seriously.

Donnetta Foster, a 20-year-old single mother, is preparing for her jury trial next week because her young son made a laughing noise while in an Atlanta-area library in October of last year.

The mother and student was at the Decatur branch using the computers to look for jobs. Her son, 14-month-old Savon, laughed while looking at an animal flash card, according to CBS Atlanta. She was then approached by a security guard and asked to leave.

Foster tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she quieted Savon and appealed to a librarian, but the librarian shut down her computer and asked the guard to escort her out.

Foster refused to leave and the police showed up to issue her a trespassing warning. That is, when according to the report, Foster "became irate yelling in a loud and boisterous manner."

She eventually left, but minutes later returned and began "yelling and cursing." Police then placed her under arrest for disorderly conduct.

"She was loud. She was upset. She was emotional," says Foster's attorney Mawuli Mel Davis to the Journal-Constitution. "But it did not warrant her being arrested."

Davis plans to argue the library staff and police overreacted.

Foster's trial is set for Sept. 13.