I have been volunteering at a library branch in San Jose, CA for about a year. I'm not sure about other public libraries in other states but at the library branch I volunteer at, I usually get about 12/13 hours a week. I love volunteering at the library because you really feel like you are part of a community and it is even better when regular customers actually recognize and greet you.
Of course other libraries may be different and you may be assigned shifts but at my library, I usually just come in whenever and help out with anything the library needs (setting up and managing programs, helping with a class, etc.) I am the president of the volunteer group at my library so I do come more often then other volunteers and in other states it may be different but I do get a bunch of community service hours each week.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.