Pura Belpré Awards 2012

If you're already considering your must-do for next year's ALA conference, the Belpré Award ceremony is definitely something not to be missed. The Grand Ballroom of the Disneyland Hotel was a place filled with a joy and a passion that I find hard to imagine happening anywhere else during the conference.

The program

Award winners (L to R): Rafael Lopez, Xavier Garza, Duncan Tonatiuh, Guadalupe Garcia McCall, Margarita Engle (not pictured is Sara Palacios who was not in attendance)

I took a few short videos with my phone. Is the Belpré ceremony filmed or otherwise recorded? Because it really should be!

Sandra Rios Balderrama reciting her poem "The Pura Belpré Award: Remembering Our Roots"

A little snippet of Guadalupe Garcia McCall's speech. I love that she gave a shout-out to all the other winners in her speech. Later she talked about how she came to write the story of Under the Mesquite, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

The amazing young dancers from the Ballet Folklórico Renacimiento. 

These kids brought out the Mexican in everyone in the room!