Motions also pass Wednesday to consult with an HR firm and an employment law attorney to address district internal personnel matters

By Buffy Pollock, Rogue Valley Times

Jackson County Library District officials have voted to formally investigate recent incidents at the Talent library in which a man was witnessed by patrons viewing videos of naked children on three separate days in December.

Board members also voted Wednesday on motions to consult with a human resources firm and an employment law attorney to address district internal personnel matters.

Four motions were approved unanimously by the five-member board during a nearly three-hour meeting Wednesday, which followed a two-and-a-half-hour meeting Monday. Most of the Wednesday meeting was convened into executive session, which was closed to the public, but members reconvened into open session at the end for the board to approve the motions.

The meeting comes on the heels of the Monday meeting that provided an open forum for community members and library district employees to give input on district operations and also included a closed portion of the meeting that yielded a board decision made in open session to place Library Director Kari May on two weeks paid administrative leave, effective through Jan. 21, to “gather additional information.”

The four motions approved on Wednesday centered around the Talent library incidents, as well as personnel-related issues raised during the Monday meeting, during which audience members — which included current and former library employees — offered a mix of feedback, including praise for May as a director and others who expressed frustrations.

The Talent library incident was first reported Dec. 20 by the Rogue Valley Times after Talent Library Specialist Glenn Kaphammer spoke out over what he called the district’s poor handling of employee concerns about the video-watching incidents. 

Library patron Michele Rowden said she was informed by her daughter that the girl saw a 32-year-old man identified as Nicholas in JCLD documents watching videos of naked children. Rowden 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 incidents, which remain under investigation by Talent police and the Jackson County District Attorney’s office. A longer suspension was later imposed, and the man lost computer privileges at all branch libraries.

The four motions approved unanimously during the open portion of Wednesday’s meeting related to personnel matters and the video-watching incidents. They are:

• A motion authorizing library district legal counsel, attorney Jacquelyn Bunick, and board president Susan Kiefer to engage with a firm, HR Answers Inc., to “provide actual recommendations on how any incidents such as the one in the Talent Library … can be prevented in the future and handled accordingly.” The estimated cost for the work is not to exceed $10,000. Board member Marta Tarantsey emphasized that the board should prioritize “looking into it and learning from it ASAP.”
• A motion authorizing legal counsel and the board president to seek a “cost estimate and timeframe” from an investigative company “to look into and investigate claims of retaliation and issues with culture within JCLD” and report back to the board.
• A motion authorizing Bunick to “engage an employment law attorney to receive legal guidance” on three questions “identified as key,” Tarantsey said, from the executive session. Tarantsey made the first three motions, with board member Patty Jensen offering a second. 
• A fourth motion was presented by board member Kevin Keating directing staff to produce a copy of a “climate survey” that polled district employees in either 2023 or 2024, and to produce data from the process for board review. Board member Marissa Barrientos Shepherd seconded the motion.

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 director placed on 2 weeks of paid administrative leave (Jan. 5, 2026)

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)