Mills College, the private liberal arts institution in Oakland, plans to sell its coveted 1623 copy of playwright William Shakespeare’s First Folio as well as a handwritten musical score by the 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, KQED has learned. In an internal email Thursday, college president Elizabeth Hillman revealed the planned sale of the First Folio—one of the English language's most influential and valuable books, expected to draw millions of dollars at auction—as part of “MillsNext,” the school’s plan to overcome a budget deficit that’s led to controversial layoffs of tenured faculty and union organizing among staff. Selling the “precious assets” will support current programs “while we build a bridge to a sustainable future,” the email reads.
https://www.kqed.org/arts/13871311/mills-college-to-sell-shakespeare-first-folio-mozart-manuscript-amid-budget-woes
