Opinion: Let’s liquidate the Library of Congress

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The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” if passed by Congress in its current configuration, will add almost $3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. Trump minions not surprisingly have claimed that’s just the CBO’s liberal bias showing, but even recently estranged minion Elon Musk has come out against the bill. He has called it an “abomination.”

Clearly, Trump and company need to find some additional ways to cut spending and increase revenues.

Here’s an idea:

Trump has already fired the director of the Library of Congress, claiming she was ideologically unfit and had filled its shelves and stacks with all manner of “woke” literature.

Why stop there? Why not issue an executive order to sell off the library’s holdings and repurpose its buildings as hotels and high-end retail stores?

The library has more than 167 million items — 39 million print books and millions more manuscripts, letters, maps, pamphlets, sheet music, you name it.

If the items were sold for just $10 apiece on average, the clearance would generate $1.7 billion to apply to paying down the national debt. And that doesn’t count the multimillions that could be saved on upkeep of the library’s many ornate buildings and the salaries of its employees, which number more than 3,500. Moreover, many of the books are rare and worth thousands, even millions, if sold at auction.

Now, some would surely object to this proposal, observing that the library is the repository of our national heritage, that it’s an irreplaceable and priceless educational resource.

To which I would say: Be real. The library says it gets about a million requests for information per year. There are cat videos on TikTok that get more likes than that.

The vast majority of us have never set foot in the Library of Congress, have never made a research requests and probably never will. Many Americans don’t read books at all.

For us oddballs and eggheads who do read, there will still be Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Amazon.com, independent book stores and thrifts. My local Goodwill has hundreds of books, hardbacks as well as paper, for $1 or less.

By liquidating the Library of Congress, we can cut costs, raise needed revenue and stimulate for-profit businesses in one big swoop. It’s time to get government out of the book business.

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This is, of course, meant facetiously. I pose this shortsighted, ridiculous plan only because it’s essentially the same rationale Trump and the Republican Party cite in their proposal to eliminate federal funding for public television and radio.

They claim that PBS and NPR are redundant, that they and their partner stations present programming that can be found on commercial outlets — as if Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” (or MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes”) is a fair match for “PBS NewsHour” or “Washington Week,” as if Sean Hannity’s radio show is remotely as educational as NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

They insist the NPR and PBS’ news and informational programming has liberal bias, but if that’s true at all, it’s largely because honest reporting is in natural conflict with so many MAGA paradigms. Besides, news makes up no more than a fourth of public broadcasting’s offerings. The rest entails classical, jazz and folk music, science, the arts, quizzes grounded in knowledge and current events, and kids’ programs.

They claim public broadcasting costs too much, but while the federal contribution to the funding, about $500 million, may seem large, it amounts to about $1.50 per American citizen — per year. That’s a remarkable bargain. We couldn’t buy everybody a latte at Starbucks for that. The cheapest Netflix streaming plan is $7.99 a month — and includes commercials. Amazon Prime is $14.99 a month.

They claim most Americans don’t watch or listen to public broadcasting, but that glass-half-empty emphasis belies the reality that public TV is watched in nearly 60% of American households each month, which is over 130 million people, and that public radio broadcasts reach more than 30 million listeners weekly.

As for those who don’t partake of public broadcasting’s programs, well, that’s their loss. Whether we’re talking about NPR’s “Planet Money,” “The TED Radio Hour” and “Fresh Air” or PBS’ “Nova” and “The American Experience,” just to name a few, the public broadcasters’ array of daily and weekly shows is akin to free college, an endless enrichment opportunity that anybody can source.

Public broadcasting is a national treasure. Ending it would be as shortsighted and stupid as selling off the Library of Congress’ books.

Noel Holston was the Star Tribune’s TV/radio critic from 1986 through 2001. He’s the author of two memoirs, “Life After Deaf” and “As I Die Laughing.” His features and commentary appear regularly on Substack as The Grassy Noel.