US-Canada border library gets new Quebec-only entrance

The Haskell Free Library and Opera House, a landmark community building built deliberately across the US-Canada border in 1904 so neighbours could share books and performances, has opened a new Canada‑only entrance. It comes after the Trump administration halted the use of the library’s original cross‑border main door, located on the US side in Vermont.

For more than a century, visitors from both countries wandered freely through the building’s central line, marked by a strip of black tape on the floor. But tightened US security rules effectively closed the historic shared entry in October 2025. The new entrance, built on the Quebec side from an emergency exit, was a costly endeavour, funded in part by the community fundraising.

Video by Eloise Alanna