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Schools and academies

McDougle School

McDougle School is the shared Carrboro campus of the Charles and Lucile McDougle Middle School, dedicated in 1994, and McDougle Elementary School, opened in 1996. From May 1995 until 2021 it also housed the Carrboro Branch of the Orange County Public Library, which shared the schools' media center and ran a community art gallery.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

People in its history

People named in events about this site, ordered by number of mentions. Each example links to an entry with a source citation.

Sites linked through the same people

Indexed works

Books, articles, records, and images about McDougle School. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.

About the site

After Ten Years: A Portrait of a Joint School/Public Library: The Carrboro Branch Library & the McDougle Schools' Media Center

2005

A 2005 look at the joint library shared by the Carrboro Branch Library and the McDougle Schools media center, written ten years after the two operations were combined. It examines a shared public library and school facility in North Carolina.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

UNC

Factors in a collaborative inquiry partnership group affecting perceptions of team and organizational learning outcomes in a professional development school

Mebane, Dorothy J. · 2000

Dorothy J. Mebane's 2000 dissertation on a collaborative inquiry partnership group and what its members perceived about team and organizational learning in a professional development school. McDougle Middle School in Chapel Hill is the case study site, concerning college and school cooperation and for laboratory schools in the town. The bibliography runs on leaves 105 to 117.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

UNC

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about McDougle School alone: the architectural surveys that cover its town or the county, and maps drawn while it stood. Several of the surveys can be read free online at NC Digital Collections.

History and Architecture of Orange County, North Carolina

Mattson, Richard L. · 1996 · Unpublished manuscript

Richard L. Mattson's manuscript survey of the history and architecture of Orange County, completed in September 1996. Its 78 pages cover the county's historic buildings and structures and end with a bibliography.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Orange County multiple property documentation form: "Historic resources of Orange County."

1993

National Register multiple property documentation form on the historic resources of Orange County, completed in 1993. Kelly Lally and M. Ruth Little led the first phase of the survey, and Jody Carter and Todd Peck the second. It runs 123 pages with a bibliography.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

[Architectural field surveys for Orange County : collected for the Historic and architectural resources of the Tar-Neuse River basin report]

1974 · Survey and Planning Branch, Historic Preservation Section, Division of Archives and History

Historic building survey forms for Orange County gathered in 1974 by the state's Historic Preservation Section for a report on the Tar-Neuse River basin. About 400 pages of forms covering buildings in Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and the countryside; a form can carry a description, historical notes, location, a photograph and a floor plan.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.

Start at OCPL

    Where to look on the shelf

    These books don’t necessarily mention McDougle School, but they cover where it stands, its kind of building and the land, family and burial records behind it, and they are where a search for a place like this usually goes next. All are at OCPL, most in the Wall Collection.

    Histories of the town and county

    • Foundational · NC 975.656 ORA Orange County--1752-1952 1953

      Hugh Talmage Lefler and Paul W. Wager's history of Orange County across its first two centuries, 1752 to 1952, prepared for the county's bicentennial. It covers government and politics, biography and the county's families, and doubles as a genealogical reference. Published in Chapel Hill by the Orange Printshop in 1953, 389 pages with illustrations and an index; this copy is a later reprint.

    • Start here · NC 371.097 PENDER A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 Pender, Irene Oliver · 1983

      Irene Oliver Pender's history of the public schools of Orange County from 1752 to 1983, covering more than two centuries of schooling in Hillsborough, Efland, Cedar Grove and the rural districts of the county. Published in 1983, 186 pages with illustrations.

    Buildings and surveys

    • Foundational · NC 720.975 BIS A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina Bishir, Catherine W. · 2003

      Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern's field guide to the historic buildings of the North Carolina Piedmont, arranged county by county from Wake and Franklin in the east to Mecklenburg and Gaston in the west. The Orange County section takes in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro along with the rural county, with entries on individual buildings and maps for finding them. Published 2003, 596 pages with illustrations and maps.

    • Foundational · NC 917.56 ORANGE An Inventory Of Sites Of Cultural, Historic, Recreational, Biological, And Geological Significance In The Unincorporated Portions Of Orange County Orange County (N.C.) · 1986

      County planning department survey of significant sites in the unincorporated parts of Orange County, published in 1988, 95 pages with maps. The survey covers cemeteries, church buildings and archaeological sites on the cultural side, and plants, animals, endangered species, wildlife refuges, geology and recreation areas on the natural side. Useful for local historians, genealogists tracing burial grounds and land planners alike.

    • Foundational · NC 363.69 HIS Historic Preservation Element: Orange County Comprehensive Plan ; Orange County, North Carolina Orange County (N.C.) · 1996

      The historic preservation element of Orange County's comprehensive plan, prepared for the county Historic Preservation Commission and Planning Department by the Jaeger Company of Gainesville, Georgia, and adopted on 1 April 1996. Partly financed by National Park Service funds through the state Division of Archives and History, it sets county policy on historic buildings and sites and their conservation. 59 pages plus 50 unnumbered, with illustrations and maps, some folded and in color.

    Land, family and burial records

    • Start here · NC 333.16 CHILTON The Land Grant Atlas of Old Orange County Chilton, Mark · 2012

      Mark Chilton's oversized atlas plotting eighteenth-century land grants across the original Orange County, which stretched well beyond today's boundaries into what became Alamance and Durham counties. Published in Carrboro by Hand Made Books beginning in 2012, the set was planned in four volumes: Henry McCulloh's great tract number 11 and the land north of it; the Saxapahaw old fields (volume 2); Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and the Johnston Tract; and Durham, Rougemont and McCulloh's tract number 12. Maps and color illustrations, 41 cm.

    In the chronology

    1. Carrboro residents begin campaigning for a public library Plans for a Carrboro library were first proposed in 1988, and residents formed a Friends group that raised money, lobbied town and county governments and worked on site selection. By September 21, 1988 Mayor Eleanor Kinnaird was forming a Friends of the Library committee to study demand, sites and funding for a small library, perhaps on the second floor of Town Hall. Their campaign led to the Carrboro library that opened in the McDougle schools in May 1995. Emily M. Weiss, "Local Government and the Public Library: A Case Study of the Creation of the Carrboro Cybrary" (UNC SILS master's paper, 2005), p. 9 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, September 22, 1988, p. 3
    2. Carrboro Board of Aldermen votes to help fund a branch library at McDougle The Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to fund a Carrboro branch of the Orange County library that would share space and resources with the McDougle Middle School media center. Carrboro and Orange County both provided funding for the library that year. Alexandra B. Leinaweaver, "After Ten Years: A Portrait of a Joint School/Public Library" (UNC SILS master's paper, 2005), Carolina Digital Repository, pp. 15-16
    3. Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board tentatively names its new middle school for Charles A. and Lucile McDougle At a public hearing the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education tentatively named the district's first new school in 20 years the Charles A. and Lucile McDougle Middle School, for two Black educators with about 70 years of service between them: Charles McDougle was the only principal of Lincoln High School and Lucile McDougle taught 33 years in the district. A committee had narrowed about 100 suggestions to six, among them Pauli Murray and R.D. Smith, and the board expected to adopt the name March 21. People: Charles A. McDougle The Daily Tar Heel, March 15, 1994, p. 3
    4. McDougle Middle School opens to students The Chapel Hill-Carrboro district's new Charles and Lucile McDougle Middle School opened its doors to students on August 23, 1994. The Daily Tar Heel called it the first new school built in the district in 20 years and the district's first school named for Black people; its formal dedication was set for November 6. People: Charles A. McDougle The Daily Tar Heel, October 28, 1994, p. 3
    5. Charles and Lucile McDougle Middle School is dedicated The middle school that opened in the fall of 1994 was officially named the Charles and Lucile McDougle Middle School and dedicated on November 6, 1994. The school's history says McDougle was a teacher, principal and central office administrator in a career of more than forty years, and that Lucile McDougle taught for more than forty years. McDougle Middle School: Our History
    6. Friends run a community art gallery in the Carrboro Branch Library Soon after the Carrboro Branch Library opened in 1995 in the shared McDougle schools media center, the Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library set up a gallery for two-dimensional art, run by a volunteer art committee, with shows running by about 1997. By 2015 it had shown more than 1,750 local artists in more than 60 exhibitions, and by the time the branch closed in 2022 it had shown more than 2,000. Nerys Levy, "On Being a Community Artist," South Writ Large, Spring 2023
    7. Orange County ends bookmobile service to fund the Carrboro branch When the Carrboro branch opened at McDougle in 1995, Orange County moved money to it by cutting the library's bookmobile service to the whole county. The bookmobile had been Carrboro's main public library service since the Civic Club library closed in 1977. Orange County and Chapel Hill managers, "Library services in Orange County," Assembly of Governments report, November 30, 2009, p. 2
    8. Carrboro Branch Library opens at McDougle School The Carrboro Branch of the Orange County Public Library opened in McDougle Middle School in May 1995, sharing space with the school library and open after school hours and on Sundays. Books circulated from May 1 and the ribbon was cut on May 21, with the Friends of the Carrboro Library having raised $2,000 toward its $46,000 budget. The Daily Tar Heel: Carrboro's First Public Library Opens Doors, May 25, 1995, p. 3
    9. McDougle Elementary School opens on the shared McDougle campus McDougle Elementary School, named like the middle school for Charles and Lucille McDougle, opened on August 20, 1996 and shares its campus with McDougle Middle School. McDougle Elementary School: School History
    10. Orange County and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools put the McDougle branch library under contract A contract between Orange County and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Board of Education made the public library in the McDougle schools a branch of the Orange County Public Library, with a county-employed branch librarian. The schools provided space and utilities, the county paid for furnishings, insurance, janitorial service and staff stipends, and branch hours were not to overlap school hours. Alexandra B. Leinaweaver, "After Ten Years: A Portrait of a Joint School/Public Library" (UNC SILS master's paper, 2005), Appendix C
    11. Second library task force calls for a new main library of 30,000 to 65,000 square feet A second Library Services Task Force, appointed in January 2004, recommended building a centrally located main library of 30,000 to 65,000 square feet sized for 2025 population estimates, a southwest branch in Carrboro combining the McDougle branch and the Cybrary, and an Orange County heritage center. Orange County and Chapel Hill managers' report on library services, Assembly of Governments (November 30, 2009), Attachment 12
    12. Commissioners reject closing the Carrboro and Cedar Grove branch libraries Facing recession cuts while opening the new Hillsborough main library, the county manager proposed closing the Carrboro branch at McDougle School and the Cedar Grove branch and moving their staff to the new building. After opposition from Commissioner Mike Nelson, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen and residents, commissioners rejected the closures and used reserve funds to staff the new library in the budget adopted in June 2009. People: Mike Nelson, Mark Chilton, Lucinda Munger The Carrboro Citizen, "Carrboro library cuts on the table" (May 14, 2009)
    Show all 17 dated events
    1. Carrboro aldermen approve criteria for siting a freestanding library The Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to approve criteria, recommended to the Orange County commissioners, for siting a freestanding southwest Orange County library in Carrboro, whose county branch was then housed in McDougle School. Aldermen ranked transit, walking and cycling access first, while Nerys Levy of the Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library asked for ample parking for older patrons and stressed access to computers and information. People: Mark Chilton, Lydia Lavelle The Carrboro Citizen: Carrboro OKs library siting criteria (Susan Dickson, March 8, 2012)
    2. County capital plan budgets a Southern Branch library at 203 South Greensboro Street Orange County's FY 2016–21 capital plan scheduled $6,375,000 in FY 2017–18 to design and build a Southern Branch library replacing the Cybrary and the Carrboro branch at McDougle School, after commissioners directed staff to work with Carrboro on siting it on the town-owned 203 South Greensboro Street property. The plan projected ten staff positions, two of them moved from existing Carrboro library operations. Orange County FY 2016-17 Commissioner Approved Budget (Capital Investment Plan, Southern Branch Library, p. 347 of PDF)
    3. Orange County's library branches are merged into one catalog Preparing for the Southern Branch, the library merged the holdings of the Main Library, the Carrboro branch at McDougle School and the Cybrary into a single catalog during the 2017–18 fiscal year and added the Cedar Grove kiosk's items. Staff reported an immediate rise in circulation at all three branches and in items sent between locations by courier. Orange County FY 2018-19 Manager Recommended Budget (Library Services, FY 2017-18 outcomes, p. 364 of PDF)
    4. County budget closes the McDougle branch and consolidates Carrboro service at the Cybrary Orange County's FY 2021–22 budget closed the Carrboro branch library at McDougle School, moved its staff to the Cybrary and lengthened Cybrary hours from 44 to 54 a week to match the Main Library, whose hours were cut from 68 to 54. The two changes together saved $143,083, and the same budget ended support for the Cedar Grove library kiosk. Orange County FY 2021-22 Manager Recommended Budget (Manager's message p. 19 and Library Services pp. 311-313 of PDF)
    5. Orange County Public Library reopens its Main Library building After more than a year of closure and appointment-only curbside pickup, the Main Library reopened with distancing measures under the county's plan to reopen facilities through July 2021. In Carrboro the branch at McDougle School closed on June 13 and the Cybrary opened for browsing on August 6. Chapelboro: Chapel Hill Public Library to Begin Indoor Book Browsing Again

    Open these in the chronology →

    Research sources

    Sources cited in this site’s history, National Register documents, and places to get research help. Research guide: Investigate a school or community institution.

    Background 11

    Show all 11

    Historic sites, markers, and maps

    Records of the time

    Collections and databases

    Local help 6

    Nearby

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    Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
    Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026