Pura Belpré: Ring a bell?

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, here’s a post dedicated to the first Latina (Puerto Rican) librarian in NYC.


“Belpré passed away in 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.

Belpré’s name lives on in the fields of Latino and American librarianship and Latino and children’s literature as a source of inspiration. The Northeast Chapter of REFORMA named its librarian achievement award in her honor in the 1980s.

In 1996, REFORMA national named its first children’s book award after her as well. The Pura Belpré Award is presented 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.”

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