With treats and a cooler filled with O’Doul’s on hand, the University’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Library hosted its annual Bloomsday celebration Wednesday, just one of many events held around the world commemorating the life and work of Irish author James Joyce.

Aficionados of Joyce’s novel “Ulysses” and casual literary fans alike joined the library for a round of performances that included readings of the author’s published writings and musical numbers of songs mentioned in his celebrated work.

The lengthy novel, first published in 1922, is divided into eighteen episodes. The book chronicles Leopold Bloom’s walk through Dublin on an ordinary day in 1904. It is on this day — June 16 — that Joyce fans celebrate the novel, as well as Irish culture in general.

Valerie Hotchkiss, head of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, said in Dublin, people regularly celebrate by walking around and drinking.

This year’s readings at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library included passages from “Dubliners,” a collection of short stories written by Joyce, as well as excerpts from the conclusion of “Ulysses” itself.

“Last year, we held a reading of ‘Ulysses’ from midnight to midnight,” Hotchkiss said.

A first edition copy of “Ulysses,” acquired by the Rare Book and Manuscript Library in the 1960s, was on display during the day, Hotchkiss said.

For those unfamiliar with the book, a computer was set up nearby so visitors could browse the “Ulysses for Dummies” website.

Champaign resident Antje Kolodziej, member of The No. 44 Society book collector’s club, said while she had not read “Ulysses” before, she had read some of Joyce’s shorter work.

“I’m interested to see what people are doing today, and to hear music,” Kolodziej said.

John Frayne, a professor emeritus of Anglo-Irish literature, said Joyce’s work, while appealing to many, is difficult to get through.

“It’s easy to pull people into ‘Ulysses,’ but you usually have to drag them out through the end,” he said.

Frayne, who once taught a semester-long class on the novel, said there are portions of “Ulysses” that are difficult for readers — even experienced Joyce scholars — to get through.

“But there are other famous passages, chapters, that one goes back to with pleasure time after time,” he said.

Several musical numbers were also performed by the Oxen of the Sun, a group named after the 14th episode of the novel.

The songs selected were pieces mentioned by Joyce in “Ulysses,” such as “My Girl’s a Yorkshire Girl” and the German opera “Martha.”

Frayne noted that much of Joyce’s writing had a certain musical tilt.

“His passages have often been set to music,” he said.