U.S. to Limit Canadian Access to Haskell Free Library

Updated at 4:17 p.m.

The U.S. government is planning to make it more difficult for Canadians to access a cherished library that straddles the Québec-Vermont border, in the latest escalation of tensions between the two countries.

The Haskell Free Library & Opera House — which sits partly in Derby Line, Vermont, and partly in Stanstead, Québec — has long served as a symbol of unity between U.S. and Canada.

That’s because, while the library’s entrance is on the American side, Canadians have been permitted to use a sidewalk that crosses the border to enter the building without passing through customs. Visitors are then allowed to freely mingle on either side of the line inside the building, so long as they return to the country from where they arrived.

U.S. Border Patrol agents have had an increased presence in the area in recent years, however, and have been monitoring the library more closely since President Donald Trump’s election last fall.

Now, the U.S. appears to be moving to end the arrangement altogether.

Library staff say they have been told that, starting on Monday, only they and card-carrying library members will be allowed to enter through the U.S. side. Then, come October, no one will be able to access the U.S. entrance from Canada without passing through an official customs crossing.

“This closure not only compromises Canadian visitors’ access to a historic symbol of cooperation and harmony between the two countries but also weakens the spirit of cross-border collaboration that defines this iconic location,” the library and the town of Stanstead said in a joint press release on Thursday.

Canadian government and library officials scheduled a press conference for Friday to protest the move and lay out a response. Library officials, who had suspected the closure may be coming, have said they will open a new entrance on the Canadian side of the building so that tourists and anyone who forgets their library card can still enter.

Staff told the Montreal Gazette last month that this would only create more work for border, which would need to monitor two doors instead of only one. Currently, border authorities from both countries monitor the U.S. entrance and will sometimes ask to search bags or see citizenship or travel documents. The library’s website encourages Canadians to bring documentation whenever visiting.

The decision comes amid an escalating trade war between the U.S. and Canada and follows a controversial visit to the library by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Noem stopped by the library on January 30 while in Vermont to meet with Border Patrol agents following the fatal shooting of one of their own.

According to national media reports, Noem stood on the American side of the border and said, “U.S.A., No. 1.” She then stepped over to the Canadian side and said, “the 51st state,” referring to Trump’s threats to annex the country.

She repeated the missive multiple times, sparking outrage on both sides of the border.

Noem also heard from Border Patrol officials who shared what library staff have described as overstated safety concerns with the building, the Boston Globe reported. The officials recounted an incident from 2011 in which smugglers were accused of using the library’s bathrooms to bring guns from the U.S. into Canada.

They also noted that people legally prohibited from entering the U.S. have at times used the building to briefly reunite with family — a practice that the library has since banned.

On Friday, U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) called reports of the closure “troubling.”

“Vermont loves Canada,” Welch wrote on X. “This shared cultural institution celebrates a partnership between our two nations.”