After graduating from Bard College, José Aponte wrote, directed, and performed off-Broadway for a number of years before pursuing an MLS at the University of Arizona. He began his tenure as a professional librarian with the Tucson Public Library. Later he moved to Santa Barbara, California where he assumed the position of Coordinator of Ethnic Services for the County and City of Santa Barbara. After three years, he moved to San Juan Capistrano, where he worked as Principal Administrative Librarian in charge of the San Juan Capistrano Regional Library for seven and a half years.

After a stint as the Director of the West Palm Beach Public Library in Florida, he moved back to California and served as Director of the Oceanside Public Library in 1996. Oceanside is a diverse city with a long tradition of public library support and dynamic community participation. Mr. Aponte led his staff in an extensive campaign of community outreach, organizing hundreds of meetings and community focus groups to ascertain service priorities and a timeline for their strategic goals and objectives.

In 2000, Mr. Aponte was appointed to the position of Deputy City Manager of Neighborhood and Community Services with the City of Oceanside. In this capacity he was charged with overseeing the administration of Library Services, Parks and Recreation, Housing and Neighborhood Services, as well as Public Information Office Code Enforcement. He also served as the City liaison to the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and the Oceanside Unified School District. He affirmed his support of library services through his continuing involvement in community outreach programs and by leading library funding and capital initiatives.

In 2002, Mr. Aponte received a White House appointment to the Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries Advisory Council. The mission of the Foundation is to provide funds to update, extend, and diversify the book collections of America's school libraries, in order to provide students increased opportunity to learn to read, to become better readers, and to advance academically.

In January 2003, Mr. Aponte became the Executive Director of the Pikes Peak Library District in El Paso County, Colorado. In March 2005, he became the director of San Diego County's library system, which includes 32 branch libraries and two mobile libraries.