A Library With Two Flags

July 29, 2010

Here in Kansas City, we are fortunate to have multiple library systems.  But in many towns in our country - or even just here in Missouri, there is only one library.  Living here on the state line the way so many of us do, we don't give much about crossing the road and leaving one state for another.  But what if one day you were in one of MCPL's locations and when you left the Adult Non-Ficton and went into Fiction, it was not just from one section to another but also from one country to another?

At the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Derby Line, Vermont (or would it be Stanstead, Qubeec?) this happens every day!  Completed in 1904, this library sits directly on the US-Canada border.  The library is on the first floor of the building and the opera house, which still runs shows from spring through the fall. 

Strangely enough, all the books at Haskell are in Canada - and all the seats of the theater are in the US. So you could say it's the only library in the country with no books - and the only theater with no stage.  A border line bisects the library reading room and yes, the staff there have had their fair share of people trying to come in to the library in one country - and attempt to leave in the other. 

To find out more, pay a visit to:  Haskell Free Library and Opera House