José Vela

speaker

908 appearances 13 recordings 1 series first heard Mar 2026 last heard 4d ago

José Vela’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

Trend

recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 13 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 3.

Appearances

newest first · ▶ plays the moment

Austin City Council · City Council Proclamations · 23 Apr 2026 meeting

It's just a great pleasure to

honor Auralia today, and I just want to turn it over to Auralia to say a few words for us.

Please.

Thank you very much.

promoting libraries and budget and resources for literacy and libraries in retirement at her ceremony.

It's great, it's great.

Let me go ahead and read this beautiful proclamation.

Be it known that, whereas, a librarian, advocate, bibliographer, and scholar has been a leading voice in advancing access for Latino children to high-quality literature and in strengthening publishing standards for books written by and featuring Latino protagonists and storylines, and whereas, she is the co-founder, along with Sandra Rios Valderrama, of the Pura Belpre Award, named in honor of the New York Public Library's first Latina librarian,

which recognizes outstanding Latino authors and illustrators whose work celebrates the Latino cultural experience for children.

And the first Pura Belpre Award was presented to the American Library Association National Conference in 1996, held in Austin, Texas, nearly 30 years ago.

And this award helped inspire a national strategy that centered community organizing as a core component of family literacy.

And whereas, as a leader with Austin Interfaith, Garza de Cortes led efforts to secure funding for Austin Public Libraries, City of Austin and Austin Independent School District bond improvements, and family literacy initiatives in public schools.

And she has worked to provide thousands of books to child refugees in Austin, while continuing to sponsor the direct delivery of award-winning books to families in rural communities in Guanajuato, Mexico, and western Colombia.

And whereas, in recognition of her four decades of service to the common good, her enduring commitment to literacy, and her transformative impact on children, families, and communities locally, nationally, and internationally, now, therefore, I, Chito Vela, Mayor Pro Tem of the City of Austin, do hereby proclaim April 23, 2026, as Aurelia Garza de Cortes Day in Austin, Texas.

And thank you all so much.

And I would be remiss to mention that this is the 100th anniversary of the Austin Public Library.

So it's just a really special time.

Thank you all so, so much.

Thank you all.

Let's get a picture.

Showing 721–740 of 908 · page 37 of 46