Volunteers & Donors

Mary has been involved in the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust since its inception by her husband, the late Ian Wilson (Chair), and Victorian Jeff Prentice (Deputy).

It all began in November 1989, with a phone call from author Christobel Mattingly  enlisting her support to help save May Gibbs’ studio home, Nutcote, which  had fallen into the hands of developers and faced demolition.

At the time, Mary was President of Delta Foundation, an Educational and Cultural body which encouraged a love of literature through book discussion groups. Delta was about to hold a seminar at Tanderra, Yankalila , entitled Children’sLiterature and the Environment….. how can we engage children to care for and understand the Environment?

Christobel spoke at the seminar about May Gibbs and Nutcote’s plight, and they became involved immediately! Mary was Chair of  the SA  Action group - “Nutcote for the Nation”,  and then  SA Friends of Nutcote. They supported the NutcoteTrust in raising money for Nutcote’s restoration, the Education Centre and the May Gibbs NutcoteWriters in Residence scheme.

When the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust was formed as a national entity they joined the MGCLT support group.

The more you learn about May Gibbs and her contribution to Children’s Literature, the more you realize how significant she was in her time, and how important good quality Australian children’s literature is today.

Mary is thrilled with the success of the Trust in supporting over 250 writers and illustrators from around Australia, who employ different mediums, as May did , and who reflect the diversity of our social, cultural and geographical environments.  

Mary was Chair of the Barbara Hanrahan  MemorialExhibition 1994,State Library of South Australia, during the Centenary of Women’s Suffrage, was awarded Life Membership of Delta Foundation in 1997, and appointed  National Patron of the MGCLT in 2013. She received an UNESCO Clubs Adelaide Chapter Achievement Award for her services to Literature  in 2017.

She has 4 sons, 7 grandchildren and enjoys bushwalking and reading.

Alle was invited to chair the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust Support Group in Adelaide in 2011 and has held that position ever since. It was just as she was retiring from full-time work as the Project Manager of the Premier’s Reading Challenge in South Australia. This completed 40 years working in the Education Department, beginning as a classroom teacher.

Following further study in Teacher Librarianship Alle worked in school libraries in both regional and metropolitan schools. Alle was involved with school library professional associations, particularly as President of the School Library Association of South Australia. It seemed a natural progression to be a volunteer in the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust, supporting authors and illustrators of children’s books and associating with like-minded people who value children’s literature.

Having fun with six grandchildren and encouraging them to love books and also playing golf and tennis adds to a busy and fulfilling life. Alle was Ladies’ President of the golf club and served on the Board for a number of years. She is also on the judging panel for a biennial award for the Psychologists for Peace Children’s Literature Award promoting the peaceful resolution of conflict in books written by Australian authors.

Sue joined the support group in 2014 following a long career as a teacher and then a teacher librarian. In retirement she enjoyed a stint in retail selling, of course, books.

Her passion for books began as a four year old being taken into the Aladdin’s cave that was Aylesbury (UK) library. As a teenager much of her summer holidays were spent volunteering at Elizabeth North Public Library.

Sue is honoured and delighted to be part of the May Gibbs CLT group that supports many of Australia’s outstanding children’s authors and illustrators.

Elizabeth was privileged to be the first May Gibbs Fellow, at Nutcotein Sydney. Involved in the Trust from its formation, she worked with Ian Wilson and Jeff Prentice to develop and refine the concept of creative time residential Fellowships. Her chief role as a member of the Trust’s Executive was to choose and chair a Program Committee which invited authors and illustrators to take up fellowships in Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra. Meeting and occasionally mentoring almost all of the first fifty Adelaide Fellows has been a highlight of her career as an author.

In time the Executive was expanded to become a board, with the awarding of fellowships now a competitive process overseen by a National Selection Committee, which Elizabeth chaired. These days she still has a role to play in selecting recipients of the Ian Wilson Memorial Fellowship – a particular pleasure – and ongoing contact with the Adelaide support group.

Born and raised in Adelaide, Judy Varcoe has been a member of the MGCLT committee for a decade.  Judy became involved with MGCLT after her family endowed a May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust Fellowship to enable a partnership with Seymour College in the name of her late mother, Von Crompton. 

A lifelong educator working in both the city and rural areas in multiple States, Judy has held Director positions, sat on Boards and Committees and provisioned successful new school services. 

Having encouraged the love of books in children, including her own, from an early age throughout her career, Judy is always interested in ensuring the availability of good quality children’s literature. A home can never have too many books! 

Judy’s interests include playing golf, tennis and bridge, travel, walking and her garden.  She is married with two daughters and an active grandmother to a granddaughter and six grandsons. 

Sarah Barkla B.A.(Hons), MLbrInfMgmt, AALIA is currently the Manager, Library Services at UniSA's City East campus, providing guidance to an operational team of librarians and library technicians.

Sarah has extensive experience working in both Australia and the UK in various roles within the academic and legal sectors. This includes client-facing and technical liaison roles at Flinders University Library and the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford which utilised her expertise in digital infrastructure, electronic resources, open scholarship and intellectual property rights.

A granddaughter of Von Crompton, Sarah has a daughter studying History and International Relations at university in the UK, and a son completing the International Baccalaureate diploma.

Rebecca Bird

Rebecca considers herself lucky in that she has spent her entire professional working like working with books in some way, the majority of that time specializing in children's literature.

She started her professional career as a Junior Primary teacher, then moved to a Public Library where she was working on children's programs for 5 years. After that she spent 9 years working for Bees Knees Books (bookseller to schools and libraries) and then 15 years at Pegi Williams Bookshop, working in store as well as visiting schools. She is currently the SA/NT Sales Manager for Hardie Grant Publishing. For 35 years she has worked with children, books, schools, and bookshops, and is always happiest when talking about books to anyone who will listen.

The May Gibbs Children's Literature Trust appealed to Rebecca as she can see the amazing opportunity it provides to authors and illustrators both established and emerging. Having been an attendee at many May Giggs functions in the past, she can also attest to the benefit the Trust provides to all children's book lovers in South Australia - being able to hear all about the stories behind the stories at events for visiting authors.