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The
North
Carolina Botanical Garden has established itself as a national
leader in conservation and native plant gardening. Established
in 1971, the Garden has grown to hold 600 acres, 27 staff members,
some 200 active volunteers, and a budget of over one million
dollars. Cultivated grounds include the Coker Arboretum (5 acres
on the main UNC campus) and the Garden proper (7 acres located
1.5 miles from the center of campus). The Garden holds some
2,500 species of plants and produces educational programs for
the public, including school groups, throughout the year. The
Garden was a founding member of the Center for Plant Conservation,
a national organization that protects US endangered plant species.
The
UNC
Herbarium was founded in 1908. It has grown to hold 660,000
specimens of plants, the largest holding in the Southeast and
a key resource for any work on the identification and distribution
of plants in our region. Among the important books produced
from this collection are the landmark Manual of the Vascular
Flora of the Carolinas, the ongoing Flora of the Southeast (two
volumes published), and Vascular Plant Systematics. The Herbarium
routinely serves as a center for plant identification (new weeds,
rare plants, poisonous plants) and for studies of changing plant
distributions.
The
UNC School of Library
and Information Science, rated at the top program in library
science (tied with the University of Illinois) in the U.S.
News library science ratings. Library and information science
is a growth field. SILS offers a full education program: two
Master's degrees, one in Library Science and one in Information
Science; a Ph.D. program, an undergraduate minor and will soon
have an undergraduate major in Information Systems; and continuing
education programs. The School is accredited by the American
Library Association. A 54-seat computer lab in the School's
Information Technology and Resource Center is equipped with
state of the art hardware and software. The School's library
has more than 84,500 volumes and subscribes to 3,600 journal
titles in all aspects of library and information science. The
library forms a part of the Information Technology and Resource
Center staffed by professional librarians. The library occupies
adjacent space with the computer lab and has a spacious reading
room. An extensive and dynamic curriculum reflects advances
in the field. Specializations in various aspects of librarianship
including school and public librarinship and information science
including database administration and internet applications
are offered by the 20-member full-time faculty.
McDougle Middle School
opened in 1994 and was named a North Carolina School of Excellence
in 1998. The school has 750 6th-8th grade students (250 per
year will participate in our activities).
The
Carrboro Branch Library of the Orange County Public Library
System has 30,000 books, 12 public computers, 8 with internet
connections. There is a school-wide network with internet access
in every classroom.
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