BROWARD COUNTY, FL - Broward County Library Regional Manager Dr. Tameka Hobbs has been named a 2024 "Mover & Shaker" by Library Journal, one of 50 library professionals nationwide selected for this honor. This annual award recognizes emerging leaders who are moving libraries forward for the next generation.

Since joining Broward County Libraries Division in November 2022 as the Regional Manager of the African American Research Library and Cultural Center (AARLCC), Hobbs, a historian, author, researcher, social justice activist and educator, has developed or reimagined library initiatives that promote and celebrate Black culture and history.

These include coordinating the launch of free Black history "Saturday School" classes at Broward County Library and "Celebrating Freedom & Florida," a three-day program series in May linking Haiti and Florida's emancipation holidays via free lectures, cultural performances and children's activities. She has been instrumental in AARLCC's participation in the 20th of May Digital History Project, an online portal featuring historical documentation and narrative interpretation of Florida's emancipation holiday, including a Before Juneteenth: Emancipation in Florida mini documentary.

"We are delighted that Library Journal has recognized Dr. Tameka Hobbs as one of their 2024 Movers & Shakers," says Broward County Library Director Allison Grubbs. "She is a champion for equitable access to library resources, and her passion for African American history fuels her commitment to ensuring everyone in our community feels welcome and empowered to explore our collections."

Prior to joining Broward County Library, she served as Associate Provost for Academic Affairs at Florida Memorial University and their founding Director of the Social Justice Institute. Before that, she was Director of Projects and Programs for the John G. Riley Center and Museum in Tallahassee, Florida, and Program and Education Coordinator for the Library of Virginia in Richmond

The author of Democracy Abroad, Lynching at Home: Racial Violence in Florida (2015), Hobbs won the 2015 Florida Book Award for Florida Nonfiction and the 2016 Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Award from the Florida Historical Society.

The 2024 Movers and Shakers, showcased in Library Journal's May 2024 issue, represent inspiring examples of the work being done in and around libraries today and demonstrate 50 different ways to move library values forward. Founded in 1876, Library Journal is a trade publication serving librarians and library workers.

Broward County Libraries Division, named 2020 and 2015 Library of the Year by the Florida Library Association, was founded in 1974 and is one of the largest and busiest library systems in Florida. Broward County Libraries Division's 37 locations provide convenient access to a full range of innovative and cost-effective services that satisfy the changing needs of the people of Broward County for information, education and recreation. Visit our website, Broward.org/Library, or follow Libraries on Facebook and X.