A few decades back, a museum that sold off some of its more valuable artworks to raise cash would find itself thrust into a firestorm of criticism, and most museums actually found it necessary to be accountable to the public that streamed through their doors. No more. Today, museums and libraries seem to feel free to divest themselves of whatever treasures are necessary to fund their latest flights of fancy, and Michael Kimmelman is tired of it. “It’s time for transparency. Increasingly, we demand it from government, the media and Wall Street, in response to dwindling public faith. The same should apply to libraries and museums, which also regularly test our trust.”