To Readers: Happy Local News Day. Here’s how you can make a difference.

Local news keeps us grounded to our communities.

It gives us a common frame of reference to talk to our coworkers and friends about the issues that are affecting our lives. It gives us the power to learn about new things and people each day.

Every week, Concord Monitor reporters are busy covering about 20 core communities and school districts, while keeping track of statewide issues that affect us all, like solid waste, casinos, housing, health care, school funding and local taxes, just to name a few.

We go to meetings and events, hearings and press conferences. We interview familiar faces in the communities we cover and complete strangers. We are constantly striving to cover issues that you, our readers, care about.

While the paper has changed significantly since it started publication in 1864, one thing has remained constant — our commitment to our community members.

Today is Local News Day, a nationwide day of action to encourage people to support their local newsrooms by subscribing and helping their neighbors do the same. Communities are only stronger when they have a reliable, trusted news source at their doorstep. Supporting them is key to help continue quality work for years to come.

Our local businesses can also be a part of this movement. We recently started a program we call “Read Local,” where partners get our paper six days a week to display in their businesses and get to be a part of a larger, connected community.

Their customers get exposure to local news, high school sports, letters to the editor and guest columns and of course, the puzzles and comics.

We offer our Read Local partners discounts on subscriptions, preferred rates for advertising and social media and newsletter features. We also offer opportunities co-host community events with the Monitor, designed to bring more foot traffic to those locations. They also get a really cool “Read Local” sticker.

If you own a business in the downtown Concord area and are interested in joining this program, please contact us at news@cmonitor.com.

Local newsrooms have disappeared at a faster rate than ever before, with a report from the Medill School of Journalism in Northwestern University estimating that over 50 million Americans have limitied to no access to local news.

The Monitor has deployed a number of engagement opportunities to allow readers to give us feedback, including our Reader Advisory Board and our first “Meet the Monitor” event at the Concord Public Library last month. Through those initiatives and beyond, community members have told us how much they appreciate the Monitor and its vital news coverage.

Now more than ever, support for local news is crucial. To celebrate Local News Day, tell your neighbors and businesses to check out the Concord Monitor — your support will support essential, reliable reporting for years to come.

To support the Monitor, visit concordmonitor.com and click on the “Subscribe Now” button at the top left of the webpage, or click the “Donate – Support Local News” button at the bottom left of the webpage. All donations are used to pay for free digital subscriptions for others in the community who otherwise couldn’t afford them.

Thank you for your support and happy Local News Day.