Pura Teresa Belpré y Nogueras
(February 2, 1899 – July 1, 1982)
She was the first Afro- Latina Puerto Rican librarian in New York City and here at the New York Public Library, starting a job at the 135th Street branch (now Countee Cullen) in 1921, just a year after she emigrated from Puerto Rico. She published several books of Puerto Rican folktales, including La Cucaracha Martina y el Ratoncito Pérez or Perez and Martina—a love story between a cockroach and a rat. Belpré retired from NYPL in 1968. Now, her name might ring a bell because of the Pura Belpré Medal, which the American Library Association presents every year “to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.”o reach all kinds of Spanish-speaking residents, Belpré began to hold bilingual storytimes, often with puppets. (“Nobody was doing that back then,” NPR noted.
Storytelling and folklore had been important to Belpre growing up, and after she came to New York, she traveled all over the city to perform before rapt audiences of kids and their families. She served as a kind of library ambassador to New York’s newcomers, making sure that Spanish speakers knew the library was meant for them, as well. An activist, storyteller, librarian, and folklorist, Pura Belpré revolutionized the library experience for the Spanish-speaking community in New York City. Belpré became the first Puerto Rican librarian at the New York Public Library in 1921 and began instituting bilingual story hours, implementing Spanish-language books and programs based on traditional holidays like Three Kings Day. After not being able to find any books for children in Spanish, she wrote Perez y Martina, a tale of a romance between a cockroach and a mouse. It was published in 1932, becoming the first Spanish language book for children published by a mainstream U.S. press.
Bio and Legacy
Life
Belpré was born in Cidra, Puerto Rico. There is some dispute as to the date of her birth which has been given as February 2, 1899, December 2, 1901, and February 2, 1903. Belpré graduated from Central High School in Santurce, Puerto Rico in 1919 and enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras, where she originally planned on becoming a teacher. But, in 1920, Belpré interrupted her studies to attend her sister Elisa’s wedding in New York City, where she was recruited by a public library effort to hire young women from ethnically diverse backgrounds. This first job led to a remarkable career that had Belpré travel the city, from the Bronx to the Lower East Side, telling stories in both English and Spanish, something that hadn’t been done before. Belpré broke the barriers that led the Spanish-speaking community to believe the library was “only English.” Except for brief interludes, Belpré remained in New York City for the rest of her life.
Librarianship
Belpré’s career in the New York Public Library commenced in 1921, and she pioneered the library’s outreach within the Puerto Rican community. However, like many of the Puerto Rican women who migrated to New York in the twentieth century, Belpré’s first job was in the garment industry. Her Spanish language, community, and literary skills soon earned her a position as a Hispanic Assistant in a branch of the public library at 135th Street in Harlem, having been recruited and mentored by Ernestine Rose, head of the Harlem library. Belpré became the first Puerto Rican to be hired by the New York Public Library (NYPL).
In 1925 she began her formal studies in the Library School of the New York Public Library. In 1929, due to the increasing numbers of Puerto Ricans settling in southwest Harlem, Belpré was transferred to a branch of the NYPL at 115th Street. She quickly became an active advocate for the Spanish-speaking community by instituting bilingual story hours, buying Spanish language books, and implementing programs based on traditional holidays like the celebration of Three Kings Day. In her outreach efforts, she attended meetings of civic organizations such as the Porto Rican Brotherhood of America and La Liga Puertorriqueña e Hispana. Through Belpré’s work, the 115th Street branch became an important cultural center for the Latino residents of New York, even hosting important Latin American figures such as the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. Belpré continued these efforts at the 110th Street (or Aguilar) branch.
Literary career
Belpré’s library career is intimately tied to her literary career. The first story she wrote and published was Pérez and Martina, a love story between a cockroach and a mouse. Belpré also collected many other folktales from Puerto Rico, translated them into English, and had them published as children’s literature.
In 1940, Belpré met her future husband, the African-American composer and violinist, Clarence Cameron White. They were married on December 26, 1943, and Belpré resigned her position to go on tour with her husband and to devote herself fully to writing. When her husband died in 1960, Belpré returned to part-time work in the library as the Spanish Children’s Specialist, which sent her all over the city wherever there were large numbers of Latino children. In 1968, she retired from this position but was persuaded to work with the newly established South Bronx Library Project, a community outreach program to promote library use and to provide needed services to Latino neighborhoods throughout the Bronx.
Belpré wrote the first major Juan Bobo story published in the United States, Juan Bobo, and the Queen’s Necklace: A Puerto Rican Folk Tale. It was published in 1962.
Death
Belpré died on July 1, 1982, having received the New York Mayor’s Award for Arts and Culture that same year. Her archives are held and maintained by the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York.
Legacy
The Pura Belpré Award was established in 1996 as a homage to Pura Belpré. It is a children’s book award, presented annually, to the Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. The Pura Belpré Award is co-sponsored by REFORMA: the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking and the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The Northeast Chapter of REFORMA named its children’s book achievement award in her honor in the 1980s.[
Pura Belpré Award fully explained
Belpré gold sealThis award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. It is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), divisions of the American Library Association (ALA), and REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking, an ALA affiliate.
The award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. As a children’s librarian, storyteller, and author, she enriched the lives of Puerto Rican children in the U.S.A. through her pioneering work of preserving and disseminating Puerto Rican folklore.
The award is now given annually. It was given as a biennial award from 1996 through 2008. Beginning with the 2021 award, the Young Adult Author category was added with YALSA’s partnership.