158.723

PostSecret is a blog that i follow for its unique concept of posting random notes and private secrets left by strangers in libraries and bookstores across the US. it's the equivalent of going through confession but done in a publicly anonymous catharsis.

Anyone can read it, and most of the notes end up published by the administrators who run PostSecret. I half suspect that majority of the readers and subscribers of the site are those that left their notes (often done in a very creative artsy manner) with the hope that they will see their "dirty" little secret out in the open.

the notes are usually short, some are cryptic, often dark.

nevertheless, i've never really felt the urge to put out a comment about anything in the site until today when i saw something that caught my eye:

"I have a case of 158.73 and it is turning me into the kind of librarian that I hate"

the clue was already there: librarian.

This got me thinking that 158.723 is a library classification in the dewey decimal system. a quick search in wiki revealed that 158 focuses on psychology.

thoughts of a perverted sexually depraved librarian popped in my head considering that most of the published work in PostSecret often revolve around this particular topic.

then again, the last line didn't make sense: "the kind of librarian that i hate." which implies that this particular "characteristic" is a common occurrence for this profession.

with piqued interest, i continued to dig deeper and eventually found a table of sub-classes that defines .723 as topics related to BURNOUT.

finally, the note made sense.

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note : photo credits go to PhotoSecret.