“The rumors that we are planning to sell our rare books, and the subsequent legal and press attention, are based on incomplete and misleading information,” Andrew Rehfeld, the president of the institution, wrote in an email to the campus community after Yost’s announcement June 4, according to Cincy Jewfolk. “We have no plans to sell or ‘deaccession’ the collection and no staff member has been asked to sell our books.”
The 14,000 rare texts held at the seminary’s Klau Library could be worth millions of dollars, according to the press release from Yost’s office. The collection is among the most significant of all Jewish libraries in the world and includes Jewish textual artifacts and historical works of philosophy, history and liturgy in more than a dozen languages.
Librarians and administrators of Jewish educational institutions throughout the country are likely paying close attention to the situation because of concern for the collection and due to the possible implications of the involvement of legal authorities as Hebrew Union College contends with financial challenges that others are also facing.
At the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, for example, administrators have sold real estate assets as well as library items in recent years amid declining enrollment. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, American Jewish University sold its campus earlier this year and has yet to announce what will become of the university’s rare book collection.
A court hearing to evaluate the restraining order on Hebrew Union College has been set for July 12.
