For more than 100 years, the Haskell Free Library & Opera House has been a symbol of friendship and unity between the U.S. and Canada. Opened in the early 1900s, the building straddles Derby Line, Vt., and Stanstead, Québec. A strip of thick black tape runs diagonally through the building to delineate the border.
But as tensions escalate between the two countries, the library has become caught in the crosshairs.
Most of the library is in Canada, but the entrance is in America. For decades, Canadians were allowed to cross the border outside the library — which is marked by granite blocks — then walk along the sidewalk and enter through the front door. In March, library staff learned that the U.S. government, under President Donald Trump, will restrict Canadians’ access to the library. Canadians with library cards can enter via the main entrance until October, when all Canadians will have to pass through an official border crossing.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the new policy is due to an increase in illicit cross-border activity. It reported that more than 20 people this year — and 147 last year — have been apprehended in the area around the library.
Library staff held a press conference to protest the changes and started a GoFundMe to create an entrance on the Canadian side of the library. The campaign has already exceeded its goal, thanks in part to a substantial contribution from Canadian author Louise Penny, whose book tour stops at the library on November 1 and 2. (You can find Penny’s popular mysteries in both French and English on the library shelves.)
In the latest episode of “Stuck in Vermont,” Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger visited the library to see the new Canadian entrance, which is already in use. She spoke to patrons about what the library means to them and filmed a meeting between Stanstead Mayor Jody Stone and Newport Mayor Rick Ufford-Chase. The two spoke about continuing to connect and strengthen their neighboring communities, despite the heightened political discord. The discussion in the opera house was also filmed by a camera crew from news network France 24, which moved back and forth across the line marking the international border.
Sollberger spoke with Seven Days about filming the episode.
You filmed a “Stuck” episode at the Haskell Library a year ago. Why did you go back?
A lot has changed politically and culturally since then, and this visit felt more somber. There was a huge media frenzy at the March press conference and in the following days. This small library has been mentioned on the “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and featured in press around the world. I wanted to see how everyone was adapting to the attention and the changes.
What was it like to witness the meeting of the mayors?
I caught them meeting on both sides of the border by pure chance. The mayors had already planned to meet before the tariffs and library restrictions went into effect, and I just happened to visit on that day. They were being documented by a two-person crew and let me tag along and film them, too. They had a lot to discuss.
What is cross-border daily life like for library patrons?
Many of the Canadians and Americans that I met cross the border regularly to shop and visit friends and family. They belong to the same choral groups and curling clubs. One Stanstead resident was born in Newport because the hospital was closer than the one in Sherbrooke. The towns share the same water supply and help each other put out fires. In many ways, these people’s lives are intertwined, and it feels like they live in one big town, not two. The latest border tensions don’t change the solid core of their connections.
The original print version of this article was headlined “A Border Runs Through It | The Haskell Free Library & Opera House opens a new door to welcome Canadians”
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This article appears in Apr 9-15, 2025.
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