Elizabeth Peña
ELN194
Pura Belpré: A Puerto Rican Pioneer
Pura Belpré pioneered the library’s work with the Puerto Rican community and was the
first Puerto Rican to be hired in the New York Public Library. She was born in Cidra, Puerto
Rico. Coming to the Borough of the Bronx in New York opened a new life for her.
As Belpré was growing up in Puerto Rico her father was a contractor and often moved
about the island. The family also moved along with him. According to Belpre, “It gave us an
opportunity to live in different towns and enjoy storytelling, which was a natural pastime”. As a
child, she was a lover of nature and the beauty of nature that she saw while growing up in Puerto
Rico later on added richness to her writing.
In fact Belpré’s “Spanish language skills soon earned her a position as Hispanic Assistant
in a branch of the public library at 135th Street in Harlem. She became the first Puerto Rican to
be hired by the New York Public Library”. Not only did Belpré have a passion for storytelling
but also had a love for children’s literature and interest in leadership. In 1926, she began her
official studies in the Library School of the New York Public Library.
She gained experience in working in various libraries and experienced different cultures.
While working in the public library of Harlem due to the large amounts of Puerto Ricans living
there “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 such as the celebration of Three Kings Day”
One very important activity of the library was the creation of the puppet theater. Puppet
shows were given in Spanish and English and soon after, began to be given in hospitals, schools,
and in parks during the summer. In fact, Belpré was mainly the person who started the puppet
shows, which was an important part of her Puerto Rican folklore programs. She also attended
meetings of civic organizations, in order to make an effort to reach to children and adults and
opened programs to expand library services to Puerto Ricans.
Later on during the 1940s, she became a professional writer, editor, and translator. She
provided needed services to Latino neighborhoods throughout the Bronx by working in a South
Bronx Library Project. This program promoted library use to Latinos. Pura Belpré wrote and
translated many children’s books. She was “chief librarian of its first bilingual division” and
worked as a children’s specialist.
Pura Belpré made many contributions to the community. She provided a lot of help to
Spanish-speaking children in the library, was an author, and storyteller. She was a storyteller and
speaker, not only for children but in library schools and schools of education. Belpré opened the
doors for these children and showed them that education is power. She received great recognition
by the New York Public Library and had many awards named after her. “Belpré's name lives on
in the fields of Latino and American librarianship and Latino and children's literature as a source
of inspiration”.