A beloved library that united the US and Canada faces new border restrictions By: Amanda Swinhart And Patrick Whittle, The Associated Press Posted: 2:13 PM CDT Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2025 Last Modified: 6:19 PM CDT Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2025

DERBY, Vt. (AP) — For Allyson Howell, her hometown library is more than just a place to borrow a book; it's also a unique space where different cultures from the U.S. and Canada have mingled and developed ties for more than a century.

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This article was published 26/03/2025 (560 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DERBY, Vt. (AP) — For Allyson Howell, her hometown library is more than just a place to borrow a book; it’s also a unique space where different cultures from the U.S. and Canada have mingled and developed ties for more than a century.

Howell and others fear that could change under a new regulation implemented by President Donald Trump’s administration as tensions continue to rise between the two countries.

The Haskell Free Library and Opera House straddles the line between Howell’s village of Derby Line, Vermont, and the town of Stanstead, Quebec. The entrance to the imposing Victorian-style brick and stone building is on the U.S. side, but an informal agreement between the two countries has always allowed Canadians to enter without a passport.

Canadians cross the border on a sidewalk leading directly to the library that is monitored by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The nearest border checkpoint is not within eyesight of the building.

Inside the library, there is a line on the floor marking the international border, though residents of both countries have been able to move freely among the stacks.

But since Tuesday, the only Canadian visitors able to enter on the U.S. side have been cardholders and library workers. All others have had to use an emergency exit on the Canadian side. Starting Oct. 1, all Canadians will have to enter from their side of the border or pass through a security checkpoint on the U.S. side. It’s a big change from the honor system arrangement the two countries have always used, users of the library said.

“This feels like this one more step of building this chasm between these two nations that is really devoid of curiosity and understanding,” said Howell, who described the library as “really special” and a “real symbol” of international cooperation between two long-standing allies.

Derby Line is a village of about 700 people within the town of Derby, located in the rural Northeast Kingdom section of Vermont. Stanstead is a town of about 3,000 residents.

An American man crosses into Canada to attend a press conference about the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Stanstead, Que., on Friday, March 21, 2025. The town of Stanstead says U.S. authorities have unilaterally decided to "close the main Canadian access" to the Victorian-style library that straddles the border between the two countries. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Like many rural border communities in the U.S. and Canada, their economies and cultures are linked. But the ties have become strained under Trump, who has advanced tariffs and tightened border protections in some communities that are especially reliant on each other.

“In many ways it’s a powerful symbol for all of us who live in this border region,” Rick Ufford-Chase, mayor of nearby Newport, Vermont, said of the library. “The border may exist in some kind of theoretical way, it’s a political reality, but it hasn’t been a reality for families who have been moving back and forth across this border for decades.”

The new U.S. regulation strikes at the heart of what the library stands for, according to members of communities on both sides of the border. It was built in the early 1900s with a goal of uniting those communities with literacy, art and culture, said Sylvie Boudreau, president of the library’s board of trustees.

“It’s a place to reunite the two countries, two communities,” said Boudreau, who lives on the Quebec side of the border. “We’re all friends, we’re all family. We stick together.”

Because of the regulation, the library will need to build a new entrance on the Canadian side, a renovation that will cost at least $100,000, Boudreau said.

A young girl walks over the Canada-USA international border line into Canada from inside the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Derby Line, Vermont on Friday, March 21, 2025. The town of Stanstead, Que., says U.S. authorities have unilaterally decided to "close the main Canadian access" to the Victorian-style library that straddles the border between the two countries. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

“For me it’s not necessary, because there’s always been a good relation with both authorities, either American or Canadian,” Boudreau said. “It would have been great if we could have kept this (U.S.) entrance open.”

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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.