History
History of the Kibble Literary Awards
Nita May Dobbie established the Nita B Kibble Literary Awards for Women Writers in recognition of her aunt, Nita Bernice Kibble. Miss Kibble raised her from birth after her mother died and was also the first woman to be appointed a librarian with the State Library of New South Wales.
The first female librarian
In the late 1800s, Miss Kibble had successfully answered an advertisement for a junior assistant at the Public Library of New South Wales, when her signature was taken for a man's. She later became the first female librarian with the State Library of New South Wales and held the position of Principal Research Officer from 1919 until her retirement in 1943. Throughout her career she worked hard to raise the status of the library profession and was a founding member of the Australian Institute of Librarians.
Miss Dobbie followed her aunt into the library profession and recognised the need to foster women's writing in the community and so established the Awards through her will.
A lasting legacy
Since the inception of the Kibble Literary Awards in 1994, many of Australia's leading female writers have received prizes, each benefiting from Nita Dobbie's foresight and vision.
The trust behind the Awards was established with just under $400,000 and is managed by Perpetual. Today, it's worth more than $700,000 and has awarded more than $425,000 to writers (as at 30 June 2011).
About Perpetual
Perpetual is one of the largest managers of private charitable and philanthropic foundations in Australia, with over $1.2 billion in funds under management, as at 31 December 2010. Perpetual is trustee to more than 450 charitable trusts which support cultural, medical, social, environmental, religious and educational causes. Visit our website for more information about how we can help set up a charitable trust.
