By: centraljersey.com
CRANBURY – After many years of work, the Cranbury Public Library finally has completed digitizing all back issues of The Cranbury Press newspaper from 1886 to 2009.
"We are excited to announce this wonderful resource to our community", said Marilynn Mullen, library director. "All the issues are saved in a searchable PDF format and stored on a portable hard drive in the library. Anyone can come into the library and request to search back issues of the Cranbury Press by day, month, year or even all issues at once. To find specific articles, users may search on a name, place or any relevant keyword."
New and less expensive technology and storage allowed the library to complete the digitization project in the last few years. Until now, the only way to search back issues from 1927 onward was to use the library’s microfilm reader.
"If you have ever searched reels and reels of microfilm, you know what a tedious process this can be," said Doug Baldwin, the library system administrator. "Now searching back issues is a breeze. Come into the library, and we’ll be happy to show you this wonderful new resource for our community."
The project began in 2002 when the Cranbury Public Library partnered with the Cranbury Historical and Preservation Society to secure a grant from the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission to begin digitizing the oldest issues of the Press. By 2003, all funding was secured, and the process of digitizing back issues from library microfilm began.
By June 2004, the first phase was complete, and the Historic Cranbury Press website was launched. Still in use today, this site allows users to search The Cranbury Press issues from 1886 to 1926 online.
The Historical Cranbury Press can be accessed from the library’s website at www.CranburyPubliclLibrary.org.

