We just want to stay open' Dismay as cross-border library caught up in US-Canada feud

Dismay as cross-border library caught up in US-Canada feud

- Leyland Cecco

There is only one building in North America, probably in the world, where one can browse bestsellers and children's books by crossing an international border and then sit for an amateur theatre troupe in a regal opera house with each half of your body in two different countries.

Standing near the Tomifobia River, a rushing body of water swollen from the spring melt, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House straddles the border of Canada and the US.

Constructed more than a century ago as a deliberate rebuttal to borders and division, the imposing building split between Quebec and Vermont has become a beloved and fiercely protected part of communities in both countries.

But in recent months, the library has become the latest casualty in the trans-border feud that has strained relations between the two nations.

Peter Lépine began volunteering at the library 15 years ago after moving from Montreal, drawn to the creaky warren of rooms, each constructed from different types of wood.

"I've loved it," he says.

"I love books, I love the people and I love the quiet. And today, mercifully, it's quiet."

For weeks, curious onlookers, outraged supporters and gaggles of media have descended on both Stanstead, Quebec, and Derby Line, Vermont, after US officials announced the main entrance to the library, which sits in Vermont, would soon be cut off to Canadians.

They cited drug traffickers and smugglers "exploiting" the accessibility and said the closure meant "we are ending such exploitation by criminals and protecting Americans", without providing evidence.

Under the new rules, which go into effect in October, Canadians will need to go through a formal border crossing before entering the library.

The news, met with disbelief from patrons and staff, followed a visit by the US secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem, in March.