In coordination with the North Central College holiday hours, Oesterle Library will be closed December 20-28, January 1st and January 3-4.  The library will be open from 8 am – 4 pm December 29-31 and January 2nd.

Normal winter term hours will resume on January 5th.  For a complete listing of library hours please see the library’s website.

Have a safe and enjoyable holiday break!

The celebration of Christmas and the birth of the Christ child begins more than a week before December 25th in Mexico with Las Posadas.  Mexican friends and families gather together on each of the nine nights before Christmas and act out the journey Mary and Joseph made to Bethlehem.  They walk together from house to house, singing songs and asking for a place to rest, but the travelers are turned away from each door as Mary and Joseph were.  At the end of each evening’s journey, a festival is held with dancing and delicious food as well as a pinata for the children.

 Smithsonian Global Sound, one of the streaming music databases at Oesterle Library includes a selection of carols that are sung during the Las Posadas.  More information about the holiday may be found by searching Academic Search Premier.

Early on the morning of December 13th each year light overcomes darkness as the daughter of a Swedish household dons a white gown with a red sash and a crown of candles.  She wakes her family while singing, serving saffron Lucia buns, in honor of Santa Lucia Day, also known as Sankta Lucia or St. Lucy’s Day.

Santa Lucia Day is celebrated today in Scandinavia and areas of the United States with Scandinavian populations along with Italy.  It is one of the few saint’s days celebrated in Scandinavia; the observance also has pre-Christian roots due to its proximity to the winter solstice.

For more information on St. Lucy, see the Oxford Dictionary of Saints, available full-text in NetLibrary.  For more information on Sweden and other Scandinavian countries, visit Credo Reference, a collection of 100 reference books available via the library’s website.

The period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is traditionally known as the Holiday Season in the United States, and almost everyone celebrates at least one holiday during that time.  The staff of Oesterle Library began celebrating December 1, when we decorated the library for Christmas.

Throughout the month of December, check out this blog for stories of holidays that are being celebrated around the world and right here in Northern Illinois.  We’ll also suggest resources that you can use to research holidays and cultural events all year long.  Finally, I encourage you to use the comment link below each entry to share highlights of your holiday season and to teach us at Oesterle Library and across the NCC campus about your own holiday traditions.