Reports that an Australian library would soon re-file Lance Armstrong’s books in its fiction section were greatly exaggerated.
“All non-fiction Lance Armstrong books,” a sign in Sydney’s Manly library read over the weekend, “including ‘Lance Armstrong: Images of a Champion,’ … will soon be moved to the fiction section.”
The New York Post took the sign literally, reporting Monday that the library “is moving all of its books about the disgraced cyclist to where they belong — the fiction section.”
But according to the BBC, a spokesman for the local government that runs the library said the sign was a joke.
“This was a prank, it happened on Saturday and a member of the public has taken a photo and posted it on social media and it’s gone viral on social media,” said Manly Council spokesman Chris Parsons.
“It’s a big, busy library and someone has played a practical joke – it’s gone unnoticed for a while and once staff noticed they changed it,” he said.
Parsons added that librarians can’t arbitrarily reclassify book titles.
Local news reports said a part-time student worker posted the sign.
Armstrong, 41, confessed on Oprah Winfrey’s television show last week that he used performance-enhancing drugs to win his seven Tour de France titles. He fiercely denied cheating for years before eventually admitting to orchestrating a sophisticated program of drugs and blood-doping.