CINCINNATI — An agreement forged between Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Hebrew Union College — Jewish Institute of Religion says the college can still sell off rare books in its collection — but only if they notify the Attorney General's office first.
According to a press release from Yost's office, the agreement was approved Friday, and mandates "greater transparency" to ensure the book collection is used "to benefit the public."
The final judgment entry, filed and signed Oct. 3, lays out the circumstances under which Hebrew Union College could move any of its books off of its campus in any way.
The agreement says the college will be able to lend its books out. Books can be shared with each of Hebrew Union College's four libraries "to serve its academic and religious mission as well as engage in routine interlibrary loans to any participating library outside of the HUC system."
Donor restrictions on any books must be maintained, the agreement says. Additionally, a list of all books held within the library and any donor restrictions applied to books in the collection must be sent to the Ohio Attorney General's office.
Outside of the book loan structure outlined, the agreement says Hebrew Union College "may only sell, transfer, remove from Ohio, dispose of or otherwise deaccession any item on the list or the donor restricted list after providing at least 45 days advance written notice to the Attorney General of its intent to sell, transfer, remove from Ohio, dispose of or otherwise deaccession one or more items."
If any books are ever sold, the funds received can then only be used to obtain other items for Hebrew Union College's Klau Library.
"Funds received from the deaccessioned items shall not be used for operating or capital expenses, absent a declaration of acute financial need as determined by a two-thirds majority vote of the Board of Governors and 30 days advance written notice to the Attorney General," the agreement says.
Records must also be kept of all library assets, the acquisition of new ones or the sale or deacession of any items in the library for up to seven years.
"These sacred texts were entrusted to Hebrew Union with the promise that they would be preserved for the benefit of scholars and researchers worldwide," said Yost in a press release. "I commend the college's leaders for renewing that pledge with this agreement."
The legal battle over Hebrew Union College's rare book collection began last year — two years after the college downsized its student population on its Clifton Avenue campus.
The WCPO I-Team has reported about that downsizing and the college's subsequent move to consider selling its rare book collection, housed in the Klau Library, to offset what Yost called the college's "sizeable deficits."
Early in 2024, advisors from the Sotheby’s auction house visited the Klau Library months after the school’s director of libraries resigned in January, citing pressure to sell items from its world-famous collection.
By June of last year, Yost announced he was seeking to file a temporary restraining order that would stop the college from moving forward with any sales. In July, Yost announced he and Hebrew Union College had agreed to a 6-month ban on the sale.
At that time, Hebrew Union maintained that it had no plans to sell the rare book collection and flatly denied Yost's allegations that the school "failed to live up to its fiduciary responsibilities" under Ohio laws governing charitable trusts by “secretly taking steps to sell or deaccession collection items.”
The school flatly denied that allegation in its July 1 response to Yost’s complaint.
“HUC is not now—nor has it ever been—in breach of its fiduciary obligations,” said the filing. “To the contrary, HUC has been and remains committed to operating the Klau Library and managing its collection consistent with its fiduciary obligations and its goal—as a religious institution—of preserving the Library’s collection to advance the understanding and study of Judaism.”
Established in 1875, the Klau contains more than 14,000 rare books, including the world’s largest collection of Chinese manuscripts that identify Jewish families dating back to the Ming dynasty and a multilingual version of the Book of Psalms created in 1516.
