Say you had a chance at a fresh start. Not just for you, but for civilization. Imagine an apocalypse that doesn't destroy the people or the planet, just everything we have built and all knowledge/memory of building it. What books would you like to survive to guide in the building of a new utopia? Why that book?

Re-posted from Business Insider.

Without a doubt, I choose The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin. This is the story of just that, and there is still an abundance of material to consider - ideas, dreams, consequences. It's an interesting look at utopia — that there can be an imperfect utopia and it can still be a utopia. That, the revolution is you, that revolutions like change are cyclical and unending. That time itself is a revolution. This is an outstanding book. —Carmen Nigro, Milstein Division

The book I would give to people starting a new utopia is Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities. On the surface, it is made up of fictional conversations between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan (over a chess game) interspersed with 55 brief, fantastical accounts of cities visited by the Venetian explorer. However, the narrative builds to a dramatic and fitting conclusion, addressing the nature of urban spaces, the limits of language, and potential paths that might lead us away from dark, dystopian futures. —Thomas Knowlton, MyLibraryNYC

I'd want the Foxfire magazine compilations - with advice on topics from how to build a log cabin to how to make apple butter. My hope is that it would help us stay fed while we re-built society. —Judd Karlman, City Island

I would offer All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum. Perhaps if we rebuilt with some simple basics like "share, don't hit others, play fair, take a nap each day and go out into the world with a sense of wonder" we would get off to a better start in our rebuilding efforts. —Maura Muller, Volunteers Office

This question immediately called to mind James Howard Kunstler's World Made By Hand series. It may be too literal a suggestion since World Made By Hand is about an apocalyptic upstate New York and the steps they take to rebuild. However, this question seems to be more a combination of a deserted island and "Memento" type scenario where nothing's destroyed exactly, we just get a chance to do better. In this case, I would recommend art and architecture books, homesteading type books and other practical information, but also something that encourages people to care about each other and the planet. In this case, I'd suggest Lost Horizon by James Hilton. Lost Horizon originated the term "Shangri-La" and can be a bit difficult to get into, but I think it fits the bill here for envisioning utopias. —Jenny Baum, Jefferson Market

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez because the magnificence of ice is a wonder to remember, as is the importance of family traditions and the trials of founding a community, and, of course, for the pleasure in reading it. Also, a practical survival guide, like Living Off The Land by Chris McNab, because the uses of a homemade bone saw should not be underestimated. —Jessica Cline, Mid-Manhattan Library

I'd have to go with The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein or The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. Something meaty that I could sink many hours into over and over again and find something new every time. Also, Swords around a Throne by John Robert Elting and Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Lo Kuan-Chung to scratch that historical itch; the Moss Roberts translation, naturally. Last but not least, a childhood favorite: D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar D"Aulaire. The illustrations were brilliant and would bring some color to a dreary post-apocalypse. —Joshua Soule, Spuyten Duyvil

To complement the D'Aulaire's, I would suggest Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novels for their fascinating exploration and extension of many of these classic stories and archetypes, and Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces or The Power of Myth to help us understand the universality and importance of myths in human existence. I'd also want a good cookbook! I love The Silver Spoon, the "bible" of Italian home cooking, but an all around basic cookbook like Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything would also be useful in the circumstances. —Elizabeth Waters, Mid-Manhattan

I would recommend former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser's The Poetry Home Repair Manual, which is not only a guidebook for writing and revising poems, but also a testament to the power of poetry as a means of reflection, communication, and inspiration. What better way to start a new utopia than with poetry? —Susie Heimbach, Mulberry Street

I'd go with The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm and Aesop's Fables because I think any civilization needs a foundation of stories to give people a set of shared references and a place from which to build a culture and rich life of creating their own tales and adventures. —Stephanie Whelan, Seward Park

R. Buckminster Fuller’s I Seem To Be a Verb because "Bucky" is a neo-futurist, his housing designs are energy-efficient, and this book is fun to read about where we live and where we are going. —Lori Salmon, Mid-Manhattan

I would carefully choose books that (as the poet Dickinson relates) "dwell in possibility"—titles that inspire readers to imagine, explore, create and commit to leading a life with purpose including, Kamkwamba's The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Pinsky's Singing School: Learning to Write (and Read) Poetry by Studying with the Masters, I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, and Soul Fury: Rumi and Shams Tabriz on Friendship. —Miriam Tuliao, Selection Team

If we have to start again, our (new) literature canon should cultivate thoughtful, kind individuals with bright, limitless imaginations. For my money, you can't do any better than Dr. Seuss. The Lorax, Oh! The Places You'll Go, and Oh, The Thinks You Can Think are some of my favorites, and if those don't work for you, hunt through his work until you find the particular kind of nonsense that gets your brain whizzling, clicking and popping like it should. Too old for children's books? Dr. Seuss wrote, "Adults are just outdated children." He keeps me an up-to-date child, every time I open a book! —Charlie Radin, Inwood

Some of my selections fall into the category of cautionary tales, like Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Animal Farm by George Orwell. I think it's important to know our history so that we don't repeat the bad parts, but it's such big subject, and, yes, there have been some bad parts, whether you read Greek history (Herodotus) Roman history (Tacitus) or 20th century Western history (The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer). Rebuilding or survival stories like Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe and Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss might be helpful, lots of ingenuity and thinking outside the box. —Lois Moore, Mid-Manhattan

I would say… Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talent series. Unfortunately she did not live long enough to make it to the third book to complete the trilogy. While far from using these books (or any book for that matter) for a foundation of a new memory or survival, as it would be better to start anew, the story highlights the importance of community building and sharing, while focusing on empathy rather than destruction. Concentrating on the struggle of Lauren Olamina, who sets out, among a crumbling government and society, to build a new community, Butler writes not just to warn of a dystopic future, but to inspire and show how lives can be built with each other to create a positive surrounding. A great addition to anyone's reading list pre-apocalypse to get you prepared and a brief manual on appropriate ways to live post-apocalypse. —Ian Baran, Yorkville

Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges, because just one of Borges' ultra-short stories can open up a mind and keep it busy for hours and days and weeks after reading it—and this volume contains all of his best. His weird and imaginative labyrinths, libraries, mysteries, and encyclopedias have the potential to inspire new ideas and create a wealth of new possibilities for a new and creative civilization. A wonderful book by one of humankind's best teachers, Carl Sagan's Cosmos is an essential, empowering, and humbling read. Post-apocalypse, Sagan's accessible and heartfelt tome on the evolution and interconnectedness of time, space, life, and civilization would be an invaluable resource for a humanity rising from the ashes. —Nancy Aravecz, Mid-Manhattan

I would suggest Darwin's On the Origin of Species ... so we wouldn't have to go through figuring that out all over again. Also, if we really are starting over from scratch, I would want a very good collection of technical manuals ranging over human endeavors from agriculture to hunting and fishing to manufactures to transportation. No sense in re-inventing the wheel. —Kathie Coblentz, Rare Books Cataloging

The Survivor Library is made up of public domain books you should probably download before the grid fails. (with the caveat that some of the materials might not meet modern medical or safety standards) —Lauren Lampasone, Digital Experience

I would choose Earth Abides by George R. Stewart. It is a science fiction classic from 1949 that describes this exact event, and gives a believable look at what the outcome will be after several generations. I might also want to have The Boy Scout Handbook, or Two Little Savages by Ernest Thompson Seton for their tips on survival. —Gregory Holch, Mulberry Street