By Ed Stannard, Community Engagement Editor
estannard@nhregister.com / Twitter: @edstannardnhr, @nhrvoices

It’s time to pay a visit to our Community Media Lab. You might be surprised at who you’ll find.

Do have a loved one with autism? Do you care about increasing literacy among our youth? Are you interested in sustainable farming? Our newest bloggers are passionate about those topics.

Shirley Blaier-Stein has a son with autism. She left her career as a lawyer to care for him, wrote a book called “Autism Mother,” and writes a blog called Autism Parents Community. We’re thrilled to add her blog to our media lab, offering those who love people with autism support and information.

It’s well known that literacy is vital to success in school and the job market. The Literacy Coalition of Greater New Haven is a group of volunteers aiming to increase the ability of both children and adults to read. If you’ve considered volunteering to be a tutor, the Literacy Coalition is the place to call. And to stay abreast of what the organization is doing, bookmark Literacy, Every Day.

Melissa Waldron runs the blog Fertile Ground USA, whose motto is “Farming is a Transformative Act.” The site is chock full of information about the sustainable-agriculture movement, including urban farming.

Some of our other bloggers are promoting a cause. Actually, one, Christopher Zurcher promotes several causes in three different blogs he maintains: PeaceNews, the Progress Action Roundtable and Connecticut Environmental Headlines.

And Zurcher is not the only environmental blogger. Others on our site include Green Cities, Blue Waters from the Connecticut Fund for the Environment and Yale Environment 360 by the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, as well as nature-oriented blogs such as Matthew Houskeeper’s Soundbounder and Nick Bonomo’s Shorebirder.

In politics, our bloggers read from left to right: Aldon Hynes’ Orient Lodge and Andrew Rose’s Political Insomniac, to name two.

Our bloggers’ coverage enhances the news and features the Register’s reporters bring you every day, and we’re always interested in adding local bloggers — or helping you start a blog — who have a passion to share.

Sports. The Arts. Even a blog about Charles Dickens movies. You’ll be surprised at what you’ll find at www.nhregister.com/blogs.

Let me or Angi Carter know if you’re interested in joining the Community Media Lab by emailing voices@nhregister.com. You can call me at 203-789-5743 and Angi at 203-789-5752. And check out OUR blog, Your Open Newsroom, and let us know what you think!