The AP reports that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has gone to state court to seek a temporary restraining order against Hebrew Union College to prevent it from selling its rare book collection. The move appears to be prophylactic, in that while the financially struggling school recently had the collection valued, it also stated it had no current plans to sell any part of the collection. The attorney general is apparently arguing that any such sale would both violate donor restrictions on gifts used to fund the collection and violate the College’s fiduciary duties to the library’s public beneficiaries. The former claim would of course depend on the source of the funds used to create the collection, while the latter appears to be a broader interpretation of fiduciary duties than is typical (but I have not researched Ohio law on this point). A hearing on the AG’s request is scheduled for July 12th. Other Coverage: DescretNewsThe American Israelite.
Lloyd Mayer
