06/06/2026
Here at the Barbara S. Ponce Public Library we are often asked questions about our namesake. Since June 6th marks the 12th anniversary of our rededication, we thought we’d give some insight into the person behind the name.
Barbara Ponce joined the City of Pinellas Park as Administrative Clerk under the federal comprehensive employment and training act (CETA) in 1978 and within five months she earned a permanent full-time position as Librarian 1. In 1983, Barbara was promoted to Assistant Library Director, then to Library Director and eventually to Community Activities Administrator, overseeing the library as well as the parks and recreation divisions in the city.
During her tenure with the city, Barbara received many honors. In 1989 she served as an adjunct professor at the University of South Florida School of Library and Information Science, facilitating a class in Building Library Collections. She was one of the first to volunteer when Vision Cable started Community Access Programming. Her production, "Inside City Limits, Pride In the Park," received a 1991 Community Access Spotlight Achievement Award. In 1994 Barbara was appointed to the State of Florida Advisory Council on Libraries and served until 1997.
After her retirement, Barbara served as the chair of the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative's Board of Directors, where she continued to advocate for libraries and their services.
