Are you looking for a job? Perhaps you feel ready for a career change, were laid off, or realize that you retired too early and want—or need—to get back into the workforce doing... something...

If you’re over 60, maybe 50, or even 40 you might find the prospect of a job search daunting, especially when you see 20- and 30-somethings competing for the same positions. Well, take heart: there’s a lot of help out there for you. The following are a few information-packed books I found at Job Search Central at the Science, Industry and Business Library.

Finding a Job After 50: Reinvent Yourself for the 21st Century (2007), by Jeannette Woodward. I like the author’s friendly style, and her emphasis on preparing yourself psychologically, emotionally and physically for a new job.      

Reworking Retirement: A Practical Guide for Retirees Returning to the Workplace (2008), by Allyn I. Freeman and Robert E. Gorman. Includes profiles of dozens of people who switched careers after 50 to follow their dreams, and how you can do the same.

Rewired, Rehired, or Retired?: A Global Guide for the Experienced Worker (2002), by Robert K. Critchley. Critchley encourages readers to look inside to discover what kind of future work will give them the greatest satisfaction in the years ahead.

Too Young to Retire: 101 Ways to Start the Rest of Your Life (2002), by Marika and Howard Stone. The authors, who are cofounders of 2young2retire.com, an online community of retirement alternatives, will get you thinking outside the box when pondering what may lie ahead for you.

How to Find a Job After 50: From Part-Time to Full-Time, from Career Moves to New Careers (2005), by Betsy Cummings. Cummings inspires readers by emphasizing the value of older workers in the workforce, and gives a crash course in networking.

Working After Retirement for Dummies (2007), by Lita Epstein. A financial expert with several books on the topic under her belt, Epstein gives wise advice on topics such as managing your money and determining when to start collecting social security, while delivering the user-friendly, comprehensive subject treatment we’ve come to expect in the Dummies books. This title is also available to borrow from your home computer as an e-book.

Smart Women Don’t Retire—They Break Free: From Working Full-Time to Living Full-Time (2008), by The Transition Network and Gail Rentsch. Rentsch, a founding member of The Transition Network, touches all the bases in this super-charged volume for women wondering whether retirement is right for them—and what to do if it’s not. Her resource list includes dozens of the best websites and a superb bibliography for further reading.

Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life (2008), by Marc Freedman. A social entrepreneur and the founder of Civic Ventures, Freedman is leading the charge to get people who are midlife or older to get (or stay) working in ways that can solve the big social problems of our world. He very articulately expresses how this can be done, and why it must be done.

Don’t Retire, REWIRE! 5 Steps to Fulfilling Work that Fuels your Passion, Suits your Personality, and Fills your Pocket, 2nd ed. (2007), by Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners. This book, gives you all the tools you need to find the right job for the years ahead. Jeri Sedlar is Senior Advisor to The Conference Board on the Mature Workforce and the former editor-at-large of Working Woman magazine.

These and many more titles are available at NYPL’s Job Search Central. You’ll also find specialized career databases; classes, programs, and workshops; career coaching and small business consulting there. And take a look at their outstanding collection of links related to small businesses.

AARP gives awards each year to the Best Employers for Workers over 50. Look at the AARP Foundation’s Worksearch website for a whole suite of customizable tools to help you along the road to finding the right job for you.