All right. I'm standing in Stansted, Quebec. I'm a few feet away from Vermont.

I live in Canada, and I recently made a trip to the U.S. border.

The first thing I was struck by is that this particular border is just open.

No fence or anything.

There's a sidewalk in front of me.

There are some cinder blocks, but surprisingly, I don't see any border guards.

I don't see any law enforcement.

I drove here to see a community library.

It's nice, a two-story brick and stone building with an opera house upstairs.

But there wouldn't be much reason for me to come here at all if it wasn't for the unique circumstances of where the library is built.

It sits right on the border of two small towns in two different countries, Stansett, Quebec and Derby Line, Vermont.

And for over 120 years, it's been serving both communities.

As I stand a few feet from the invisible border, I read an old, weathered black.

Thanks to an understanding with the Porter Authority's Canadian visitors,

are permitted to access the building on foot without having to first report to US customs. Please remain at all times on the sidewalk and return to Canadian soil immediately following your visit. Thank you for your collaboration.

That's referring to the sidewalk right in front of me heading into Vermont, to the library's front door.

But there's also a new sign. Haskell library cardholders only. All others will be

arrested and face prosecution and or removal from the United States. And then there's big do not

enter sign. So I'm not going to cross over the border here. So instead I follow a path around

the back of the building, through the

grass, along some carpets thrown down to form a makeshift path to a modified emergency exit.

I walk through a room that looks like a fire escape, until I find myself not at a reception desk,

...