U.S. authorities said on Friday they are closing Canadian access to a library straddling the Canada-U.S. border, drawing criticism from a Quebec town where people have long enjoyed easy entry to the space.

For more than 100 years, people in Stanstead, Quebec have been able to walk into Derby Line, Vermont to enter the border-straddling Haskell Free Library and Opera House – no passport required. Inside the library celebrated as a symbol of international friendship,

A U.S. decision to limit Canadian access to a library that straddles the border between Quebec and Vermont has prompted an outpouring of emotion in communities on both sides. Local residents and politicians say it makes no sense to change the rules at a library celebrated as a symbol of international friendship.