UPDATE: Jackson County library director on leave as board seeks answers
Published 2:03 pm Monday, January 5, 2026
District board takes unanimous action amid controversy surrounding response to Talent library incidents in December
The Jackson County Library District board voted unanimously on Monday to place Library Director Kari May on two weeks paid administrative leave following a two-and-a-half hour meeting.
Some four-dozen people were in attendance for the meeting at the Medford library with dozens more attending via Zoom.
The open meeting convened for a closed executive session then reopened for audience members to return. A closed meeting also was held on Friday. The recent round of meetings comes on the heels of recent weeks discussion and debate following an incident at the Talent library during which a man was reported on three separate days in December viewing naked children in both video and photo format.
The incident was first reported Dec. 20 in the Rogue Valley Times after Talent Library Specialist Glenn Kaphammer spoke out over what he called the district’s poor handling of employee concerns. Library patron Michele Rowden, who was informed by her daughter that she saw a man watching videos of naked children, initially contacted library staff but ultimately contacted Talent police during the third incident Dec. 15. Other incidents occurred on Dec. 11 and 13.
While the man’s library privileges were initially suspended for one week, library officials later expressed regret following public outcry at their handling of the matter and later imposed a longer suspension period and permanent revocation of the man’s internet privileges at all libraries.
The incidents are under investigation by Talent police and the Jackson County District Attorney’s office, officials have told the Times. Monday’s audience, which included district employees and community members, offered mixed feedback on the library district during the meeting, with board members opting to place May on leave through the completion of a Jan. 21 board meeting to gather additional information.
While the focus of the executive session was noticed simply “to consider dismissal or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or change brought against, a public officer, employee, staff member, or individual agent who does not request an open hearing,” discussion during Monday’s open meeting centered around May’s job performance and concerns about the Talent library incident.
Several employees spoke, offering a mix of input ranging from singing May’s praises to speaking of what they described as a retaliatory culture and alleged poor district management. Audience members spoke mostly of concern over the Talent library incident and what they considered a poor response by district administration.
Ellie Anderson, head of adult services for the Ashland library branch, said she had worked in the library system for two decades and had “encountered situations before where people have wanted to use library computers to do things that were not appropriate” and that it could be a difficult situation to navigate.
Anderson said she felt she received “good guidance” from district management. “People who work here are clear that pornography and other content of that kind online is not appropriate for the library,” she said, adding that the incident at the Talent library could have been exacerbated due to things moving quickly and staff becoming emotional “about dealing with the situation.”
“I am sorry this happened at all. I encourage you, the board, and everyone who is thinking about this, to take your time making decisions and leave space for growth and change and learning from mistakes,” Anderson said.
Kaphammer, who attended via Zoom, thanked community members for speaking out and agreeing “that what happened was wrong” and was poorly handled. Kaphammer said he was “grateful that the board is taking this more seriously than the director and two of the supervisors.”
Kaphammer urged families not to stop using district libraries and said employees felt strongly about keeping patrons safe. “Members of the public, especially families, please continue to come to story times and programs,” Kaphammer said.
“JCLS is still a place where you can connect to ideas, information and each other,” he said.
A Talent library employee who identified herself via Zoom as “E” said she was one of two employees who reported the Dec. 15 incident to management and that it was done under the guidelines of mandatory reporter training. A branch employee of six years, she took issue with her incident report being “heavily edited” by district officials and spoke of ongoing personnel issues with branch management, including alleged inappropriate comments “about people’s bodies” and verbal attacks.
The woman said she felt the Dec. 15 incident “could have been prevented” with proper management following the initial Dec. 11 incident. The woman called the initial one-week suspension a “blatant disregard and disrespect for the families and children who were exposed as well as for their safety and well-being.”
Following the executive session, board member Kevin Keating admitted frustration prior to placing May on leave. “I’m pretty torn on this. I thought that we had a … mandate to do the right thing in this case,” he said at the meeting.
“On the other hand, what I’m hearing from our legal counsel is that we need some more time to ensure proper legal advice.”
Keating and other board members encouraged employees and patrons to email board members to discuss any concerns about the district. Board member Marta Tarantsey pointed out that emails could be disclosed under public records laws and that employees who recently voted to unionize or patrons who don’t wish for their emails to be shared publicly could call to verbally discuss concerns.
Board president Susan Kiefer said she would “not be willing to accept anonymous emails” as evidence and that if board members wanted to “investigate beyond just the Talent incident” they would “have to do some work” prior to the Jan. 21 meeting.
Numerous requests by the Times over the past week for a copy of May’s employment contract were not fulfilled by district officials. According to June 18 board meeting minutes, posted onlineMay’s annual salary is currently $189,978.
May was hired in August 2018 with a reported salary, according to a 2019 contract obtained by the Times, of $125,000 at that time. According to the 2019 contract, May can be terminated without cause but would receive between three and nine months salary, upon termination, depending on tenure. Based on her length of time employed, May would receive nine months salary if terminated without cause.
For board meeting information, visit the library district website.
Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or buffy.pollock@rv-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.
