DATE: June 12, 2014
MEDIA CONTACT: Steve Vinik,
Libraries Division
EMAIL: svinik@Broward.org
PHONE: 954-357-6190
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – On Monday, June 23, 2014, Broward County’s Mayor Barbara Sharief will be the second “African-American Culture Keeper” to be honored by the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center (AARLCC), located at 2650 Sistrunk Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311. A reception will be held at 5 p.m. followed by a moderated program from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The first Culture Keeper honoree was W. George Allen, Esq., a pioneer in Florida civil rights.
According to AARLCC’s Pearl Woolridge, a Culture Keeper is “someone who has made significant contributions to the community in such areas as education, religion or politics.” Woolridge is coordinating the Culture Keeper programs and arranging for the programs to be video-recorded, with a copy to be kept in the archives of the library to be shared with future generations.
Moderating the program is Dr. Tameka Hobbs, Ph.D., assistant professor of history at Florida Memorial University. She will be guiding Mayor Sharief’s responses and giving the audience an opportunity to ask questions.
Barbara Sharief, M.S.N., A.R.N.P., is the Broward County Commissioner assigned to District 8 in southern Broward County, along with being the County Mayor. She has a Master’s of Science in Nursing and an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner Degree from Florida International University. In 2001, she created South Florida Pediatric Homecare Inc. to provide care for medically complex children and adults in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties.
A native of South Florida, Sharief attended public schools in Miami-Dade and Broward. She graduated from Jackson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in 1992 as one of the youngest persons to have passed Florida’s RN boards. In 2000, she obtained a Master’s of Science in Nursing and an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner Degree from Florida International University.
During her career, Sharief worked for the Jackson Memorial Health Care system and several other hospitals. She also worked for several national home health agencies as an administrator and director of nursing. In 2001, Sharief created the South Florida Pediatric Homecare Inc., a home health care agency for medically complex children and adults.
She was elected to the Miramar City Commission in 2009, where she served as Vice-Mayor in 2010. In November 2010, she was elected to the Broward County Commission District 8 seat. Sharief was selected to serve as Chair of the Health and Human Services Policy Committee for the Florida Association of Counties and is a board member of the Broward County Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Homeless Initiative Partnership, and the Value Adjustment Board of Broward County.
On November 19, 2013, Sharief became the first African-American female mayor of Broward County and is currently pursuing her Nurse Practitioner Doctorate degree.
This reception/program is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 954-357-6210.
The award-winning Broward County Libraries Division, founded in 1974, is the largest library system in Florida by square footage and one of the busiest, with more than 9 million walk-in customers visiting its 40 locations annually. The library has more than 3.4 million items and 2,000 computers for public use, and offers hundreds of events and programs to meet the needs of Broward County's diverse community. Broward County Libraries Division continues its strong emphasis on literacy, after-school programs and electronic access. In addition to our comprehensive Web site, Broward.org/Library, which provides information about library activities, links to online catalogs, reference information and databases, customers can visit BCL WoW - Broward County Library Without Walls – for free eBooks, music, audiobooks, apps, movies and more. Customers may also follow Libraries on Facebook and Twitter. Libraries Division also administers the services, programs, collections and exhibits of the Broward County Historical Commission.