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.
Kathryn Eyre
President
As a lover of books and reading and a Teacher Librarian, I understand their importance in our society. I love helping others discover the value of a good read. I’m excited to be able to contribute to the development and continuity of CBCA as both a committee member and as a Judge for the Book of the Year Awards.
Gail Erskine
Past President
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.
Wendy Rapee
Vice President & NSW Board Director
A new Life Member of the CBCA NSW Branch Inc. Wendy has been involved with the CBCA NSW Branch since 2001. Originally revolving around communications and newsletters, Wendy's role grew as she became responsible for the national merchandise production and distribution. When the National Board was formed Wendy held the NSW Director position from 2015 – 2017. Currently, Wendy is CBCA National Chair, becoming the CBCA NSW Branch Vice President and Member Director to the National Board in 2020.
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.
Vivienne Nicoll-Hatton
Acting Secretary
I am a long-standing member of the CBCA NSW and its President decades ago. I believe in this era of technology it is more important than ever that we help teacher-librarians and teachers of literacy to bring to every child the benefits of reading quality literature.
Terry Fahy
Committee Member
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.
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.