District board takes unanimous action amid controversy surrounding response to Talent library incidents in December
By Buffy Pollock, Rogue Valley Times
The Jackson County Library District board voted unanimously Monday to place Library Director Kari May on two weeks of 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, which was open to the public and also available 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 round of meetings were called on the heels of discussion and debate in recent weeks following incidents 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.
While the man’s library privileges were initially suspended for one week, library officials expressed regret following public outcry at their handling of the matter and outlined steps that have been taken to further address the matter, including a longer suspension period for the patron in question 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 Rogue Valley 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, said board member Marta Tarantsey.
Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or bpollock@rv-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.
Related stories:
Jackson County library board holds meetings to consider dismissal, discipline of employee (Jan. 2, 2026)
Library district outlines plans in response to Talent branch incident (Dec. 24, 2025)
Criticism mounts over how Talent library patron’s suspension was handled (Dec. 22, 2025)
Patron loses privileges after looking at web images of nude children (Dec. 20, 2025)
