 Her Spanish language, community and literary skills soon earned her a position as 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.