Celebrating the City's First Puerto Rican Librarian, Pura Belpré
Updated 1/31/2024
The New York Public Library is hosting two events to celebrate the anniversary of Pura Belpré's birthday on February 2:
Pages of History: Schomburg, Belpré, and the Preservation of Heritage, February 3, 2024 2:00–3:30 PM
Learn about the lives of Arturo Schomburg and Pura Belpré, their literary work, and their impact on NYC and beyond.
The New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, 42nd Street & 5th Avenue. Register to attend
Pura Belpré: New York City’s First Puerto Rican Librarian, February 16, 2024 2:00–3:00 PM
Join curator Barrye Brown and librarians Aníbal Arocho and Valerie Garcia to highlight Belpré’s enduring legacy.
The New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, 42nd Street & 5th Avenue. Register to attend.
Belpre leading a storytelling group at the 115th Street branch, ca. 1940. Image via NYPL's Digital Collections, ID: 100838.
Pura Belpré was a legend in her own time—and in ours, as well. She was the first 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 Library) in 1921, just a year after she emigrated from Puerto Rico.
Her exact birthday is disputed, but Belpré was around 21 or 22 when she came to this country. She must have been acutely aware of the needs of the city's immigrants, particularly the growing Puerto Rican community in Upper Manhattan.
To reach Spanish-speaking residents, Belpré began to hold bilingual storytimes, often with puppets. ("Nobody was doing that back then," NPR has 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.
Later in her career, Belpre's fame grew, and 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."
The first winners, in 1996, were An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio by Judith Ortiz Cofer and Chato's Kitchen, with art by Susan Guevara and written by Gary Soto. Some of the most prominent Latinx authors and artists have received the award, including Elizabeth Acevedo, Yuyi Morales, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Meg Medina, and Sonia Manzano.
Want to learn more about Belpré's life and legacy? Check out The Stories I Read to the Children, a collection of Belpré's own stories and essays, and don't miss these books for children:
Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre
by Anika Aldamuy Denise; illustrations by Paola Escobar
Describes the life and accomplishments of Pura Belprâe, a Puerto Rican librarian who introduced the folk tales of her native island first to the children of New York and afterwards throughout the country.
Pura Belpré
by Meg Medina and Marilisa Jiménez García; interior illustrations by Gillian Flint
This inspiring chapter book biography introduces readers to Pura Belpré who brought Spanish and bilingual storytelling and books to libraries across the country, giving Spanish speakers the opportunity to read and find community in ways they never had before.
Pura's Cuentos: How Pura Belpré Reshaped Libraries With Her Stories
by Annette Bay Pimentel; illustrated by Magaly Morales
Lively illustrations and lyrical text combine to pay tribute to the extraordinary life and legacy of the celebrated storyteller, author, folklorist and the first Latina librarian in New York City who was a pioneer of bilingual storytimes.
The Life of Pura = La vida de Pura
by Patty Rodriguez and Ariana Stein; art by Citlali Reyes
A gifted puppeteer and storyteller, Pura Belprâe captivated millions of bilingual readers across New York City—and worldwide. Her children's book, Perez y Martina, became the first Spanish language children's book published by a mainstream U.S. press. She left such a lasting impact on the reading world and Puerto Rican community that the Pura Belprâe Award is named after her legacy.
