A cross-border landmark faces a restrictive new future
By CBS Sunday Morning
Summary
## Key takeaways - **A library straddling two countries**: The Haskell Free Library and Opera House, built in 1901, uniquely sits on the border between Stanstead, Quebec, and Derby Line, Vermont, serving as a symbol of cross-border unity and cultural exchange. [00:11], [00:43] - **Border restrictions disrupt a symbol of unity**: New U.S. policies have restricted access to the library, forcing Canadians to use a less welcoming back entrance and ending a century-old tradition of free movement and cooperation. [01:42], [03:02] - **Border security cited for new library access rules**: U.S. Customs and Border Protection stated that changes were necessary due to smuggling and illicit cross-border activity around the library, a justification questioned by local officials. [04:02], [04:29] - **Community defies border divisions**: Despite new restrictions, the shared community of Stanstead and Derby Line maintains a strong sense of unity, symbolized by streets where the border is the center line and merged flags. [04:53], [05:13] - **Library remains a sanctuary from politics**: Inside the Haskell Library, the focus remains on literacy, culture, and friendship, creating a space where external politics and rulings seem to cease to exist. [05:51], [06:14]
Topics Covered
- An international library defies border politics.
- Dual citizenship for a building: A founder's vision.
- Border security changes fracture a community's unity.
- Is a sidewalk truly a border security threat?
- Canusa Street: Where borders blur and neighbors unite.
Full Transcript
With Lee Cowan, we head north to a most
unusual landmark that for more than a
century has served as a cultural welcome
mat between the United States and
Canada.
>> There's still a place where you can walk
freely across an international border,
no questions asked.
The only protest is the squeaking
floorboards near the wellworn boundary
line painted on the floor.
This is the Haskell Free Library and
Opera House, a Victorian palace to art,
culture, and education
that actually has dual citizenship
because part of it sits in Stanstead,
Quebec.
The other half stretches into Derby
line Vermont.
>> So this is the actual border. So you're
standing in Canada.
>> This is the border.
>> It was the vision of Martha Stewart
Haskell, the wealthy Canadian who
married a wealthy American. She had it
built in 1901 as a gift.
>> What was the point of having it
specifically sit across the border?
>> She wanted it to be welcoming to both
communities. And at that time this was
family both sides.
>> American Kathy Converse has been
volunteering here for 20 years. She's
seen kids and parents.
>> This is the ticket office.
>> Tourists and residents,
>> French speakers and English speakers,
>> all coming and going freely.
>> But this month it changed.
And it's just sort of I'm going to stick
with my one word that I use for the
situation sad.
>> In January, the same day President
Donald Trump was sworn into office, US
Border Patrol agent David Mland was shot
and killed during a traffic stop. It was
about 15 miles from the library. A
Seattle woman has been indicted for his
murder.
Hundreds turned out on the streets of
Burlington in January to say goodbye. A
week later, Secretary of Homeland
Security Christy Gnome flew to Vermont
to pay her respects. She also made a
surprise visit to the library.
>> How'd that go?
>> I have to say she was very polite with
me. But a few weeks after Gnome's visit,
Sylvie Budro, president of the library's
board of trustees, was notified the
building's literary loophole was
closing,
ending Martha Stewart Haskell's century
old vision of cooperation.
getting emotional, but I don't think she
she would have thought, you know,
because her first mission was really to
reunite people, not to divide.
>> Starting this month, Canadians are no
longer allowed to use the US sidewalk
that leads to the library's grand front
entrance. Instead, they have to report
to a legal US port of entry first.
>> Welcome to Canada. Welcome to Canada.
Yep.
>> But in the back of the library on the
Canadian side was a rarely used
emergency exit. They turned that exit
into an entrance. Not as welcoming to
Canadians as the front perhaps, but for
now it'll have to do.
>> It's like when you're losing a friend, a
dear friend.
>> That's what it feels like.
>> Yeah. You know, like you backstab me and
it's going to take a while before I
forgive you.
>> Canadian Susan Rothell wasn't about to
take a chance.
>> We didn't dare cross that border.
>> US Customs and Border Protection said
the changes were necessary because of
incidents of smuggling and illicit
crossber activity around the library.
>> Around the library,
outside. Yes, we have people crossing
often, but it's not because of the
library. You know,
>> she should know Udro worked for the
Canadian Border Services Agency for 20
years.
>> And to think that the library because of
one little sidewalk would have that big
of an impact uh on border security for
me doesn't make a lot of sense.
[Music]
>> That's Jody Snow.
He's the mayor of Stanstead, Quebec.
>> But he's just as well known in Derby
Line Vermont.
>> If you look at the community, if it
wasn't for the borders, you wouldn't
know that it was two separate countries.
We share water and sewer. Our fire
departments come to each other's aid
when needed. We've tried to keep it as
open as possible.
Take a drive down Canusa Street, as in
Canada, USA Street. So named because the
border is essentially that yellow line
down the middle of the road. On the
American side, signs of support and
solidarity. On the Canadian side, a
morphing of our two flags into one.
>> I'm proud to be in a community where our
neighbors appreciate us as much as we
appreciate them.
>> That back entrance will eventually be
getting a makeover. A donation box shows
that the dollars don't discriminate.
Both sides want to make it right.
>> Despite all the noise outside in here,
under the mournful eyes of a massive
moose, the Haskell Free Library and
Opera House remains a place where no
sides are taken,
>> where differences are celebrated, and
where the promises of the past are kept.
It's like all that
politics and all these rulings don't
exist. We are here for all the same
thing is literacy, culture
and friendship.
Loading video analysis...