A bilingual library brings two nations together—right on their international border.
The Haskell Free Library is a large brick building that has stood on Caswell Avenue since 1904. Well, that’s where it’s located in the U.S.; in Canada, the address is 1 Church Street. That’s because this stately structure stands on the international border; citizens of each country have their own doorway, and the shelves are packed with books in French and English. Staff members, too, are bilingual.
The town of Derby Line (Vermont) feels very remote, and it’s less than a mile from the official border crossing, where Interstate 91 abruptly transforms into Autoroute 51, and tous les panneaux de signalisation sont écrits en français. When the White House abruptly stoked tensions between the U.S. and Canada in early 2025, the library’s symbolism—as a place of peace, learning, and co-existence—came into stark relief.
As if the library’s bookish existence wasn’t cool enough, the Edwardian complex also contains its own opera house, with seating for 400 patrons.
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