On the tails of the annual Banned Books Week, join Kari May, Director, Jackson County Library Services; and Marie Felgentrager, School Library Media Specialist, Southern Oregon Education Service District, and Oregon Association of School Librarians Intellectual Freedom Committee Representative, for a discussion of censorship, the Freedom to Read, and other challenges facing school and public libraries in Oregon and nationally.
Kari May has been the Library Director for Jackson County Library Services since 2018. She has 25 years of experience working in libraries in Colorado, Utah, and Oregon, and she believes that libraries have a vital role to play in a community’s vibrancy. She has served as the President of the Colorado Library Association and was named Chamber Member of the Year when she was Library Director of a rural system in southeastern Colorado. JCLS received the Star of Excellence Award from the Medford/Jackson Chamber of Commerce in 2019, and in April 2023, library hours were expanded across all 15 branches. May is a member of the Medford Rogue Rotary and serves on the steering committee for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Jackson County. She is the Chairperson of Southern Oregon PBS’s Community Advisory Board. May enjoys exploring Southern Oregon, from Crater Lake to hiking trails and wineries. She lives in Medford with her chocolate lab, Sydney, who makes sure they get out and walk the hilly streets around their home. May stays active walking and swimming and enjoys cooking and, of course, reading.
Marie Felgentrager, is the certified District Librarian/Media Specialist for Roseburg Public Schools, a contracted Library Specialist for the Southern Oregon Educational Service District, and a Specialty Library Coach for the Douglas Educational Service District. She has served as a public school librarian for 13 years and has been a teaching librarian for the past 6 years. As the head librarian at the high school, Felgentrager serves a student population of more than 1,500, as well as overseeing 8 elementary and 2 middle school libraries. In 2022, she was selected as the Oregon Intellectual Freedom Champion and is now serving as the Oregon Association of School Librarians Intellectual Freedom Committee Representative. Supporting the right to read for all individuals is her professional passion.
The monthly Big Ideas discussion series features prominent local experts speaking on relevant and timely issues affecting our community. Lectures are jointly sponsored by the Ashland Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and Jackson County Library Services.
