Meet our Committee
Meet the CBCA NSW Branch Committee. A dedicated team of volunteers who generously give their time to accomplish our mission which is to connect, communicate, celebrate and advocate for the value of stories.​
Paul MacDonald
President
Owner of the award-winning The Children's Bookshop and winner of numerous awards such as a Quality Teacher Award, The Premiers English Scholarship, the inaugural Maurice Saxby Award and the 2016 Lady Cutler award for services to children's literature and literacy in Australia, Paul is a passionate proponent of the value of quality Australian books, and the role of CBCA.
Terry Fahy
Vice President
Terry decided at the age of three that she was going to be a librarian. She has travelled that path from public libraries, special libraries and school libraries through a good many changes, library upheavals, moves and including the library burning down. Her constant is the passion for reading and sharing the story far and wide, inspiring readers, authors and illustrators and converting the lost readers. CBCA is an important cornerstone in the literary journey for generations of kids and kids at heart, which makes it as relevant as ever for people to work on the committee and keep pushing forward.
Sue Bates
Treasurer
Sue is a former primary school teacher, teacher-librarian, assistant principal, and principal. Having been an educator for 43 years she is passionate about the educational benefits of children reading quality literature. She values the important role of the CBCA NSW Branch Inc. in supporting our talented Australian authors, illustrators, teacher-librarians and schools in connecting children and books.
Gail Erskine
Committee Member
Gail is a former primary school teacher, teacher-librarian, mentor to practising teachers and a university tutor in Children’s Literature.
She is passionate about the rights of all children to access quality literature, be inspired by authors and illustrators and be informed by qualified teacher-librarians. She is convinced of the transformative power of children’s books and the importance of connecting kids and books.Gail is the 2022-23 Lady Cutler Award recipient.
Diane McInerney
Committee member
I am a retired Infants and Primary teacher. I was raised by a mother who always had a book in her hand and developed a love of reading from her. I am passionate about the need for good literature being available to all children, for their pleasure and an understanding of the origins of our Western Democracy. Schools should play an important role in this process with passionate teacher librarians in all schools.
Laurel Reynolds
Committee Member
After many years of benefiting as a teacher librarian from all that CBCA NSW does, I have been privileged to be able to help on the committee for the last few years. My involvement is driven by a passion to share the joy and riches of our exceptional Australian children’s literature with children and those who teach them.
Marion Silk
Committee Member
As a former teacher-librarian and book lover since childhood, I always enjoyed the pleasure of reading.(I also love making displays and 'dressing up' for Children's Book Week©!)
I am passionate about the importance of reading for children and especially in promoting quality Australian children's literature.
CBCA plays an important part in supporting authors, illustrators, teachers and schools to maintain an Australian identity in literature for our younger generations.