Library to celebrate Scottish poet's birthday

While many hummed the strains of "Auld Lang Syne" on New Year's Eve, the annual day of remembrance for its author drew closer.

Robert Burns, a Scottish poet born Jan. 25, 1759, is honored in Scotland on his birthday with memorials and festivities observed on a grand scale.

"If you're Scottish, you celebrate Robert Burns' birthday the way someone from the United States celebrates Lincoln's birthday," said Mary Bannon, public programming coordinator for Naperville Public Library. "It's a huge event in Scotland."

The library will celebrate Burns' birthday at 7 p.m. today at the 95th Street Library. It's a way to acknowledge one of Scotland's favorite sons on behalf of the local Scottish population, as well as a way to introduce non-Scottish library patrons to the culture, Bannon said.

The Naperville library planned a Burns celebration five or six years ago, but it didn't fare well, Bannon said.

"Unfortunately, it happened on the night of a horrible blizzard," Bannon said.

Though many audience members managed to make it through the storm, several scheduled performers from Chicago and other locations were unable to attend, she said. This year, she said, library officials decided to try again.

The evening will include a reading of Burns' poetry by Gus Noble of the Illinois St. Andrews Society, and performances by the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society and bagpipers from the City of Chicago Pipe Band. There also will be some singing, Bannon said, including a rendition of "Auld Lang Syne."

"Even if you're not Scottish," Bannon said, "it's a fantastic thing to look at, to know more about the culture.

If you go

What: Robert Burns Birthday Celebration

When: 7 p.m. today

Where: 95th St. Library, 3015 Cedar Glade Drive, Naperville

Cost: Free; registration required

Info: (630) 961-4100 or naperville-library.org