May is Preservation Month! I know, there are only a few days left, but you can celebrate Preservation Month all year long with great books and other resources from The New York Public Library. Established in 1973 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, all are invited to celebrate historic American places—from the old neighborhood record store to famous skyscrapers, from parks and glorious landscapes to important cemeteries—in the spirit of "instilling national and community pride, promoting heritage tourism, and showing the social and economic benefits of historic preservation." Here are a few reads to inspire you throughout the year, from histories to how-to books to neighborhood guides.

I want to learn everything about historic preservation! Start here:

• Why Preservation Matters by Max Page (love that cover image!)

• Museums, monuments, and national parks: toward a new genealogy of public history by Denise D. Meringolo

• Bending the future : fifty ideas for the next fifty years of historic preservation in the United States by Max Page and Marla R. Miller

• The Once And Future New York: Historic Preservation and the Modern City by Randall Mason (also available from home with a valid NYPL Library card!)

• Dr. Kimball and Mr. Jefferson : rediscovering the founding fathers of American architecture by Hugh Howard

• American Architecture: a History by Leland M. Roth

• The man who found Thoreau : Roland W. Robbins and the rise of historical archaeology in America by Donald W. Linebaugh

• National Park Service Cultural Resource Challenge : preserving America's shared heritage in the 21st century by the U.S. National Park Service Cultural Resources, Partnerships, and Science Directorate

• The past and future city : how historic preservation is reviving America's communities by Stephanie Meeks with Kevin C. Murphy

• Place, race, and story: essays on the past and future of historic preservation by Ned Kaufman

• Keeping Time: The History and Theory of Preservation In America by William J. Murtagh

• 1973-1998 : 25 years of preserving New York by Joyce Mendelsohn

• Your career in historic preservation: cultural and architectural heritage by the Institute for Career Research

And take a gander at more in the Library's catalog under these subject headings:

• Historic buildings -- Conservation and restoration -- United States.

• Historic sites -- Conservation and restoration.

• Historic sites -- Conservation and restoration -- United States.

I could look up all day, but ack! the neck strain. Do you have anything on beautiful landmarks? Feast your eyes on these:

• After the Final Curtain: the Fall of the American Movie Theater by Matt Lambros

• Operation lighthouse rescue, a NOVA production by Windfall Films for WGBH Boston; produced and directed by Joby Lubman

• Roadside America: architectural relics from a vanishing past  by John Margolies

• New York series by Robert A. M. Stern, et al.:

  • New York 1880 : architecture and urbanism in the gilded age

  • New York 1900 : metropolitan architecture and urbanism, 1890-1915

  • New York 1930 : architecture and urbanism between the two world wars

  • New York 1960 : architecture and urbanism between the Second World War and the Bicentennial

  • New York 2000 : architecture and urbanism between the Bicentennial and the Millennium

• New York from the Air: a story of architecture by Yann Arthus-Bertrand; text and maps by John Tauranac

• In the Vale of Cashmere [Prospect Park] photographs by Thomas Roma

• Prospect Park : Olmsted and Vaux's Brooklyn masterpiece by David Colley with photographs by Elizabeth Keegin

• Sylvan cemetery : architecture, art & landscape at Woodlawn edited by Charles D. Warren, Carole Ann Fabian and Janet Parks

I want to restore/repair/nominate my historic building. Look no further:

Start with these publications from the National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, available from NYPL:

• Preserving Historic Architecture: The Official Guidelines

• How to complete the National Register multiple property documentation form

• How to complete the National Register registration form

• Caring for Your Historic House published by Heritage Preservation and the National Park Service

And these titles:

• Preservation of Modern Architecture by Theo Prudon

• The Old-House Journal Compendium edited by Clem Labine et al.

Or pick books in the Library under these subject headings:

• Historic buildings -- Conservation and restoration.

• Historic buildings -- Conservation and restoration -- New York (State) -- New York.

I want to get outside and learn more about a neighborhood by walking its streets. Go forth with these:

• Walking Tours by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission

• Andy Warhol's New York City: four walks uptown to downtown by Thomas Kiedrowski with illustrations by Vito Giallo

• Forging a metropolis: walking tours of Lower Manhattan architecture by Andrew S. Dolkart

• The Historical Atlas of New York City: a visual celebration of 400 years of New York City's history by Eric Homberger

• An architectural guidebook to Brooklyn by Francis Morrone

• Blue Guide: New York by Carol von Pressentin Wright

• AIA Guide to New York City by White, Willensky, and Leadon

Or choose your own adventure from books in the catalog:

• Walking -- New York (State) -- New York -- Guidebooks.

I want to learn more about New York City's landmarks...and the buildings that should've been landmarks. Have you considered:

• The Landmarks of New York: an illustrated, comprehensive record of New York City's historic buildings, historic districts, interior landmarks, sidewalk clocks, streetlights and cultural medallions by Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel

• Campaign to Preserve Carnegie Libraries by the Historic Districts Council

• Rowhouse Styles by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission

• On Architecture: collected reflections on a century of change by Ada Louise Huxtable

• Lost New York by Nate Silver

• Designation Report Database for New York City Landmarks from the Neighborhood Preservation Center

Need further guidance? Consult the preservation professionals:

• New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission

• National Park Service

• New York State Historic Preservation Office

• Preservation Directory

• Bibliographies, Directories, and Guides for Historic Preservation Resources at NYPL

And don't forget our list of Preservation Month Reads from 2016!