Miss Euphemia (Pheme) Tanner was the children's librarian for the Bendigo Library from 1946 to 1979 and one of the first full-time children's librarians in Australia. She was also President and a long time member of the Business and Professional Women's Association (BPWA) of Bendigo, raising issues of the status of women in professional life.
Pheme Tanner made an immense contribution to the strong traditions of libraries and children's literature in Bendigo, and was reponsible for generations of children in central Victoria reading widely, critically and well.
The BPWA of Bendigo and La Trobe University jointly sponsor the
Pheme Tanner Award, a biennial award presented as part of the La Trobe University, Bendigo, Children's Literature Conference.
Source: La Trobe University website 08/01/2003.
