What You Are Looking For is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

 This is a charming collection of interwoven short stories that all feature a colorful librarian who always seems to know how to push people onto a rewarding new path. We meet a young woman who couldn't wait to leave the countryside for an exciting life in Tokyo only to realize that working in a retail store is not really her dream. A boy who is intrigued by the local antiques shop. A newly retired man who is trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life once he realizes that 65 is not really that old. All of them end up at the local community center, where the eccentric but very wise librarian listens to their stories then sends them each off with a book that she is sure will change their lives. Sweet and uplifting.