>[ When is it appropriate for a public museum to sell or trade its
>[ holdings to a private museum or collector?  To pay its creditors,
>[ maybe?  To pay its staff? -- Robbie

Museums are hard pressed to stay afloat these days, with the federal
and state budget cuts, donors not giving like they use to, rising costs
of basics, etc.  When an item is given to a museum the donor has no say
in what happens to it after that.

In essence, donations are given to museums for the tax write-off,
essentially 'selling' it to the museum in return for the paperwork.  The
museum has the right to do whatever they want to or need to do with it.

Some items are sold from museums to raise money to buy something better
or more appealing, to bring more people into the museum; some are sold
because they are duplications or close enough that they don't warrant
keeping.  If a museum is to remain open, sometimes it _must_ sell items
to meet expenses.

What would be worse: a closed museum because it wanted to keep everything
and not sell a piece (but no one could then see any of what they had),
or an open museum, there because an item was sold to keep it open?

The museum Trustees are there to make such decisions.  That's part of
their job.  They have to weigh the historical value of the item they
might consider selling; its relevancy to exhibits; its authenticity;
its impact on the community; and many other considerations.  It is not
a decision taken lightly or done without much consternation.

Without selling off some items, museums would run out of storage room
and become little more than warehouses.

Just my opinion,

Nancy Fratti - Nancy Fratti Music Boxes
Canastota, New York, USA
http://www.nancyfrattimusicboxes.com/