Summary

The U.S. government has ordered the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, which straddles the U.S.-Canada border, to end Canadian access through its Vermont entrance due to drug trafficking concerns.

Starting Oct. 1, Canadians must use a new entrance on the Canadian side, costing the library over 100,000 CAD to build.

Locals on both sides express frustration at ending the century-old tradition.

The library, a nonprofit since 1901, launched a fundraising campaign, raising more than half the needed funds through small community donations.

  • ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    18
    ·
    8 days ago

    Why would a separate entrance stop drug trafficking? I’ve never been to that library but from the photo, it seems like you could just walk like 500m away, be in a forest, and hand someone a whole bucket of that sweet Canadian fent we all know and love.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    16
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    8 days ago

    look, Canada, if you wanna, y’know, take care of things, y’know, we’d really appreciate it. This demented rapsit is nothing but human sewage washing over everything.

    I mean - who knew?!

    • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      7 days ago

      How could anyone know that a guy that was convicted of 34 counts of fraud was lying to people?

  • meco03211@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    8 days ago

    Relax guys. The other entrance should be equivalent to the other. Separate but equal if you will. That can’t possibly go wrong.

    • brandon@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      24
      ·
      8 days ago

      A separate entrance is more then just a door:

      To build out the Canadian entrance, the Haskell has to create a parking lot with reduced mobility spots, install reduced mobility access ramps and entrances, and build another proper building entrance to the facility.

      Looks like their GoFundMe has a good response so far, already receiving over the expected $100k needed.

  • ThePantser@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    8 days ago

    I’m surprised they didn’t just defund the library for lending out “banned” books. I guess that’s the next step after they build the entrance just to own the Canucks.

  • CobraChicken3000@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    7 days ago

    Little did I know that the Venn diagram between drug traffickers and Library patrons is a near perfect circle.

    • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      7 days ago

      You’ve never seen the deleted episodes of Reading Rainbow? Way more hardcore than The Wire. Levar’s comming, yo!

  • Verdant Banana@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    8 days ago

    “Drug traffickers and smugglers were exploiting the fact that Canadians could use the U.S. entrance without going through customs. We are ending such exploitation by criminals and protecting Americans,” the statement said.

    no more drugs or nudie pics from libraries by God!

  • CobraChicken3000@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    7 days ago

    Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Reuters that the U.S. decision was in response to drug trafficking.

    GTFOH

      • Em Adespoton@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        13
        ·
        8 days ago

        The library has been there for over 100 years and is a US and Canadian heritage site, and is supposed to be representative of cooperation and community between the US and Canada.

        It’s the Quebec/Vermont equivalent to the BC/Washington Peace Arch, but also happens to be a cross-border library.

        • OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          7 days ago

          is supposed to be representative of cooperation and community between the US and Canada.

          And now it’s representative of that cooperation and community being hammered by a senile psychopath in the Oval Office.

          • Em Adespoton@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            7 days ago

            Yes and no… Kristi Noem already put in an appearance to repeatedly step across the “border” in the library shouting “USA Number 1! 51st State!”