Conflict of Interest or Dovetail?

I realized there’s a resonance in abandoning a book titled “coin locker babies” in a little library box. But I quickly stopped thinking about that. After leaving my copy somewhere along Opelousas St. I realized the same used edition of Coin Locker Babies was priced over $100. One single handsome hardcover that i didn’t even stop to snap could have paid for this site for months.

The book is already ‘re-homed.’ I went back to the same library box to take a photo - and Coin Locker Babies is long gone. Its not like I have the time and organizational skills to set up a store on Amazon anyway. Unless I have boxes of valuable mint-condition books…?

The thing is I don’t think I care if other people sell it. In one sense it would be - and i hate to say this - a win-win-win. Whomever sells it gets some cash and the book ends up on the shelf of someone who wants it. Somewhere I presumably can’t walk to. It still has my stamp, so the new owner might end up here.

I could think of missing $100 all day long but its not like I would have bothered. I wont have a huge number of books like this to give away. I have some great and valuable books. But many were gifts so even if I stamp ‘em they’ll all stay on my shelves. But there are a few that I bought myself that are now pricey. I think I am just going to “lend” them anyway. Wherever they end up is fine even if money changes hands. To quote another punch-worthy cliche - I am not “leaving money on the table”
I’m leaving it in little lending libraries.