The MGCLT believes that the creators of Australian children’s literature are crucial to the preservation and shaping of our culture. It has two core undertakings.

  • Through fundraising efforts, the Trust is building a capital base sufficient to purchase and maintain studio apartments in the capital of each state and territory.
  • The Trust is using the studio apartments to provide residential programs for Australian children's authors and illustrators.

The MGCLT provides the creators of books for children with residencies - a place and time to concentrate on their creative work, undertake professional development and build new audiences. The Trust assists the creators of books for children by:

  • enabling them to focus on their work in progress - to research, think, experiment, write and re-write;
  • providing for paid employment in their chosen field;
  • encouraging them to share and develop ideas with publishers, editors, booksellers and fellow creators;
  • helping them meet and work with new audiences;
  • fostering a greater awareness and appreciation of their work.

By offering fellowships, creative time residencies and mentorships to authors and illustrators of children’s books, the MGCLT not only honours May Gibbs and her life work, but also contributes to the literacy and aesthetic skills of children in schools. At the same time the Trust, through its programs, enhances the profile of authors and illustrators through work in universities, museums, libraries and community groups.

May Gibbs was Australia’s first professionally trained, full time children’s picture book illustrator and her books offered Australian children a fantasy world created from their own natural and cultural environment. The May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust honours her contribution to Australian children’s literature and supports today’s creators of books for children in her name, providing a context that links the work of contemporary children’s authors and illustrators with Australia’s cultural heritage.