Reflecting on the tribute, Lucia said “I love my North Miami community, and the library we envisioned and built together. I served with love and was empowered and allowed to implement all that I thought a library should be. I am so proud of the beautiful playground!”
On Saturday, May 17th, former University of South Florida School of Information distinguished alumna was recognized with naming of the "Lucía Martínez González Tot Lot" at the North Miami Public Library. Lucía is a USF alumna and the previous North Miami Public Library Director until her retirement in 2023. Before her work as library director, she was a Manager and Youth Services Librarian in Miami-Dade and Broward County Libraries. Current Library Director Paul Bazile, another USF School of Information alum, worked with library staff, the Friends of the Library, Vice-Mayor Kassandra Timothe and Mayor Alix Desulme, to make this tribute possible. In the early afternoon, both adults and children library patrons alike gathered for the ribbon cutting event. Afterwards the celebration included games, a magician, face painting and food. Families from the community, friends, colleagues from REFORMA de Florida, and the City's Vice-Mayor were in attendance.
Outside of her work in librarianship Lucía is a Cuban American storyteller and award-winning author of books for children, including titles like "The Storyteller's Candle/La Velita de los Cuentos", "The Bossy Gallito/El Gallito Mandón" and more. Currently, she works as REFORMA de Florida’s President-Elect and a Library Consultant active in the library field at the national level. Previously, she served as the 2020-2021President of ALSC (Association for Library Services to Children, a division of the American Library Association), 2010-11 President of REFORMA (the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services for the Spanish Speaking), Chair of the Children and Young Adults Committee (CAYASC) and was Cultural Competence Consultant of the “Pura Belpre Award,” and co-founder of the “Noche de Cuentos” initiative. Lucía is also the recipient of several awards including the REFORMA Lifetime Achievement Award and two-times recipient of the Library Journal’s Movers & Shakers Award. The USF School of Information selected Lucía as the 1998 Jean Key Gates Distinguished Alumna Award and she was the University’s 2021 Alice G. Smith Lecturer.