Frances has had a long successful career as a children's librarian, her positions including Service Development Librarian for Children and Youth and later Preschool Services Librarian, for Waitakere Libraries, Auckland. In 2006 she joined Richards Literary Agency, managing their children's client list until May 2012, when Ray Richards downscaled the activities of his agency.
Frances has always been an ardent advocate for New Zealand children's literature, she was a committee member of the Children's Literature Association of New Zealand (now Storylines Children's Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand) from the 1970's, and closely involved with the exhibitions of New Zealand children's books held at the International Youth Library, Munich, Germany in 1981 and 1985.
She has convened and judged both the LIANZA (Library and Information Association Aotearoa) and New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards. She has also had considerable experience reading and assessing manuscripts over the years – for the Children's Publication Fund, Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council, for local publishers and the Storylines Tom Fitzgibbon Award for an unpublished writer.
Frances has attended the Bologna Children's Book Fair annually since 2007, representing books on behalf of several New Zealand publishers.
Frances Plumpton:
Former trustee: Storylines Children's Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand
ARA (Assistant Regional Advisor) SCBWI, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Australia East/NZ chapter
Chair IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) NZ
Awards:
Winston Churchill Fellowship 1989 awarded for a study tour of Public Library Services to Young Children in the United Kingdom, March – June 1989
Storylines Children's Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand – Betty Gilderdale Award for Services to Children's Literature 2006