The first coordinator, Dr. John A. Yarbrough, Professor of Biology and Head of the Department of Biology at Meredith College, served on key committees leading to the founding of CRC. He met with committees that put the founding ideas into appropriate structures and coordinated the appearance of outstanding guest lecturers. Mr. M. Austin Connors, who followed Dr. John A. Yarbrough, attended national conferences to keep fellow educators abreast of ideas and initiated an extensive project that involved cooperating with community libraries. Dr. Julius P. Freeman, formerly head of Teacher Education for the State Department of Public Instruction, North Carolina, during 1977-1981 initiated publication of the CRC News, a newsletter circulated among the member institutions, and organized a celebration of the tenth anniversary of CRC held in the McKimmon Center at North Carolina State University.