Jackson County Library District director says one-week suspension is warranted, but others say it doesn’t go far enough
By Buffy Pollock, Rogue Valley Times
Talent Library employees and patrons are speaking out after multiple incidents at the Home Street branch within the past two weeks in which a man using a library computer station was observed watching what they believed to be child pornography.
According to employees and Talent police, a 32-year-old man identified in Jackson County Library Services district documents as Nicholas spent extended periods of time at the library branch on Dec. 11, 13 and 15 and was observed viewing photos and videos of naked children as well as, employees said, allegedly zooming in on genitalia of children and babies.
His library privileges have been suspended for a week.
Library staff and patrons initially reported concerns to district management and police, who initially responded on Dec. 11, but the man had left the facility and was not questioned. During the third incident, on Monday, library patron Michele Rowden was informed by her daughter, a minor, that she saw a man watching videos of naked children. Rowden captured a video of the man, for proof, and showed library staff.
Talent Library Specialist Glenn Kaphammer, who spoke with the Rogue Valley Times about the incidents, told Rowden that employees had voiced concerns about ongoing incidents involving the man but had been told by district administrators to “respect the man’s privacy.”
Kaphammer told Rowden he was disturbed by what was going on and voiced frustration with upper management. Rowden decided to escalate the situation herself.
“When I realized they were afraid to call the police, I said, ‘OK, then you guys stay right here. I’m going outside to call the police,’” Rowden told the Times.
History of issues
Kaphammer, a district employee for five years, said he had moved to the Talent branch after experiencing issues with safety and security at the Medford branch in recent years. At one point while in Medford, Kaphammer said he was tasked with administering Narcan for patrons who overdosed in library restrooms.
The district has previously come under fire for security concerns centering around the downtown Medford library branch. In a Times report in April 2023, patrons and city officials reported outreach programs to area homeless had prompted a rise in criminal and other concerning behaviors, including destruction of library facilities, fires and overdoses in library restrooms and drug and sexual activity on library premises.
Medford police Chief Justin Ivens said at the time that police responded to 400 calls for service during 2022 and that community members had witnessed individuals having sex in restrooms and drug activity taking place and that community members felt unsafe using the library.
The Medford library later contracted for increased security, which officials said resulted in reduced instances of previous issues.
Police arrive in Talent
When Talent police responded to the library on Monday, Kaphammer said the man began to frantically close search tabs and videos “in a way that indicated he realized what he was watching was not OK.”
“They asked him, ‘Why did you just close all that stuff down?’” Kaphammer said, noting that the man was then escorted outside to talk with police.
“I heard some young girls who were sitting at another computer and when the police walked him outside, I heard one of them whisper, ‘See, I told you what he was watching was bad.’ It was really upsetting because they were minors and even they realized it was wrong.”
Talent police Chief Jennifer Snook confirmed that officers responded Dec. 11 and 15 to the library branch and made contact with the man Dec. 15.
Snook said the department plans to document the incidents for further review. Snook said Kaphammer followed up with a visit to the police station and voiced concern after library district officials, urged by police to trespass the man, responded with a one-week suspension of library privileges.
Kaphammer said large groups of homeschool students and parents were present during at least one of the incidents, and that videos were visible to other patrons. Kaphammer, too, took issue with the one-week suspension.
“It was a violation of our library policy that he viewed images that made him feel good and that made other patrons uncomfortable, not that he was breaking the law by looking at child pornography,” Kaphammer said. “The duration of suspension of library privileges can be one week, one month, and three months. Because he’s been a regular patron for a really long time, and this was his first offense, they made it for one week.”
Kaphammer said he attended a library district board meeting on Wednesday and addressed the board, but meeting audio had not yet been posted to the library website as of Friday.
Kaphammer said district officials held a staff debriefing on Thursday “to reflect on what happened and to talk about what staff could have done better.”
Library officials respond
In a districtwide email on Thursday, Jackson County Library District Director Kari May acknowledged concerns had been expressed by Kaphammer about the incidents during the public comment portion of the recent district board meeting.
May’s email said that consultation with branch management regarding the first two incidents Dec. 11 and 13 “determined that what Nick was viewing did not violate the Library’s Internet Acceptable Use Policy.”
Following the third incident, however, May’s letter states that the patron “was viewing videos and photos of babies and young children because it made him sexually excited, which is a violation of the Internet Acceptable Use Policy. He also viewed images that were making other patrons in the building uncomfortable, which violates the Rules of Conduct Policy.”
May stated in the email that the library district is “committed to upholding all laws regarding to the viewing or distribution of child pornography and recognizes the severity of any such activity.”
The letter confirms that the man’s library privileges were suspended for one week: “Because Nick has been a regular patron for a long time and this is his first documented offense, and because he was not given a warning to cease the behavior before he was suspended, his suspension is for one week.”
According to library policies, the patron may return to the library Dec. 23.
May went on to state that staff, when the patron returns, “should all assume positive intent” and that multiple incident reports filed by staff regarding the incident “did not follow our incident reporting guidelines and have been edited to comply with those parameters.”
Concerns continue
Rowden and Kaphammer said they remain concerned with the library district’s handling of the incident. “A one-week suspension is ridiculous. I hope the DA’s office will take a look at the video and decide there is merit in some sort of warrant for that computer that he was on,” Rowden said.
Kaphammer concurred, saying, “Not even about how bad a feeling it was to have a pedophile in the library but even more so about the way this was handled.”
Jackson County Library District board member Kevin Keating, contacted by the Times, said he was concerned about the incident at the library and believed the district and police “should treat this with the utmost seriousness.”
Keating said he had been previously unaware of the incident until Kaphammer attended the Wednesday board meeting.
“I want it to be clear. This person’s computer should’ve been shut off immediately,” Keating said. “I don’t understand how somebody could look at that and not determine that.”
Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.
Dec. 21: Since publication of this story Saturday, Dec. 21, in the Rogue Valley Times, which also posted it to its Facebook page, the Jackson County Library District has posted this in a comment on the Times post:
“We want to address the incident at Talent Library and share the steps we’re taking to ensure our spaces remain safe and welcoming for everyone. Transparency and community trust are our priorities. Please read our full statement below.
“Jackson County Library Services (JCLS) takes the safety of library users, especially children, extremely seriously and we regret the initial handling of the incidents reported on December 20, 2026 in the RV Times. Since the incident was reported to Talent Police, we have been working with our legal counsel to ensure an appropriate response. After review, we have determined that increasing the length of suspension and permanently revoking internet use privileges for the individual involved is the appropriate course of action.”
To read the full statement, click here.
