Samantha Baer, the director of the Wilmington E.M. Cooper Memorial Library, poses on March 7 with Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird,” a book that has often been challenged for its commentary on racism. (Enterprise photo — Andy Flynn)

In this region, we’re lucky to have no shortage of incredible libraries. Today, Saturday, is a great time to enjoy them.

More than 28 libraries throughout the North Country are participating in a “Library Crawl” today, an event designed to encourage readers to rediscover their local libraries.

People who choose to participate in the Library Crawl will get a “Library Crawl Passport,” and at each library they visit, the librarian will stamp their passport. Whoever visits at least three libraries — say the Saranac Lake Free Library, Lake Placid Public Library and Goff-Nelson Memorial Library, for example — will be entered into a drawing for a basket of books by local authors Sheri Amsel, Joe Bruchac, Benjamin Giroux and Kate Messner.

Some libraries, like the Keene Valley Library, also have special events planned; KVL is hosting a Banned Book Open House from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Our local libraries are a vital resource for so many reasons.

By virtue of the Clinton-Essex-Franklin Library System, readers in even the most rural parts of this region can access pretty much any book imaginable by requesting it through the CEFLS catalog, even if it’s not currently located at their local library. And as the Enterprise learned through our process of reporting for a story titled “No book ban requests here” in our May 23 edition, libraries across the Tri-Lakes continue to carry books that some schools and libraries in other parts of the country have removed from circulation, which means that residents here really can read whatever they’d like.

But the reasons that libraries are so crucial to our communities goes beyond access to books. Libraries are meeting spaces, places where kids can often access tutoring or participate in special events, and libraries provide access to the technology required to navigate so many parts of our society: Computers, internet, printers and fax machines.

We can’t take our libraries for granted. We need to actively support them and the services they provide. If anybody doesn’t have any particular book they’d like to read in mind, this “Library Crawl” event is the perfect excuse to take a trip to your local library, reconnect, and see what’s new.