Follow Up – The Library in the Middle of a National Border

In April, we wrote about the Haskell Library, a unique symbol of Canadian-American friendship for over a century. It was built right on top of the border, the main entrance being in America but the reading room and books in Canada. It didn't matter. People from both sides of the border, in particular Derby Line, Vermont, and Stanstead, Quebec, went there to read, borrow books, and chat (quietly) with their neighbors. It was as if they were one, since, for all intents and purposes, they were (and mostly still are) one.

Sadly, the other shoe has dropped since that article was written. Recently, it was announced that Canadians for the most part would no longer be permitted to enter through the front door. It's in America. A side entrance was hastily opened on the Canadian side to enable Canadians to enter separately. Separate but equal? Ironic, since the library was deliberately built on top of the border to symbolize the friendship between the two peoples. That was the wish of Martha Stewart Haskell and her son Horace when they chose the location back in 1904, and gave the library only one entrance.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol issued a new regulation (unilaterally, Canadians noted), saying Canadians will need to enter through the hastily built new entrance in Canada. For the moment, Canadians with a library card (which means some residents of Stanstead) can continue to enter through the front door by showing their library card. However, that privilege will end on October 1. From then on, unless they walk the three miles to the nearest official border crossing, they will have to enter through the side door. The only exception then will be made for handicapped Canadians unable to navigate the side entrance. It all sounds reminiscent of a long ago time in American history when some places had separate “colored” entrances. Hopefully, Canadians will not be required to drink from a separate water fountain.

U.S. officials justified the decision as protecting the safety of Americans from drugs being smuggled into America through the library. However, they did not provide examples of this happening nor explained why a Canadian would go into a public library to pass drugs to an American instead of doing it somewhere else less conspicuous along the 5,500 miles of largely unguarded border.

The city of Stanstead issued a statement in response to the closing - “The City of Stanstead and the Haskell Free Library and Opera House are calling on the public and media to stand with us against the U.S. government’s unilateral decision to shut down the primary Canadian access point to this world-renowned, one-of-a-kind heritage landmark.

“For over a century, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House has stood as a powerful symbol of unity and cross-border friendship—one of the only buildings in the world that quite literally connects two nations. This sudden closure not only limits Canadian visitors from their shared history and threatens the very spirit of collaboration that has defined this institution for generations.

“We refuse to let a border divide what history has built together.”

Recently, officials from Stanstead and their American counterparts from Derby and Derby Line got together in a display of goodwill between neighbors. Representatives of Vermont's U.S. Congresswoman and a Senator attended. They expressed the unity among people and desire to build on that relationship, though the reality is they are limited in what they can do.

In 2016, President Obama welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Washington with these words, “As always, our work as nations remains rooted in the friendship between our peoples. And we see that every day in communities along our shared border...And up where Derby Line, Vermont meets Stanstead, Quebec, Americans and Canadians come together at the local library where the border line literally runs right across the floor. A resident of one of these border towns once said, we’re two different countries, but we’re like one big town and 'people are always there for you.'

“So, Prime Minister Trudeau...to all our Canadian friends -- we are two different countries, but days like this remind us that we’re like one big town. And we reaffirm that Americans and Canadians will always be there for each other.”

“Always” turned out to be eight years.

What happened at the Haskell Library is just a small drop in a sea of change taking place in America, a change that is hard for many of us to understand. America once had many good friends and people who trusted us all around the world, who turned to us for leadership. That has changed, and it's part of a deliberate policy whose purpose I find hard to fathom. We threatened to militarily take over Canada, called Canada a “51^st state,” and referred to their Prime Minster as “Governor.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem went to the Haskell Library, stood on the American side of the borderline and proclaimed it U.S., and on the Canadian side called it the 51^st state. We would be offended by that, so why are we doing this to a friend? And then there are the tariffs that cover virtually all countries. Even our friends don't like us now. It takes years, maybe decades to earn someone's trust, but it can be lost in a moment. For us it is gone, self-inflicted. There must be a reason for this, but what?