The Brooks Room at the Deschutes Public Library was more reminiscent of a Hawaiian airport terminal than a quiet place of study Thursday afternoon.

“I like learning about the different islands,” Nevaeh Clawson, 6, said, making a lei out of twine and tissue paper. “I might want to go to Tahiti someday.”

Thursday afternoon, students at the library huddled around librarian Josie Hanneman as she read folk tales from the South Pacific. During the hourlong program, students even got to make colorful leis out of tissue paper and branch out on their own learning journeys to different islands in the South Pacific.

As part of the Deschutes Public Library’s Adventure Corps program offered weekly to children ages six through 11, students get a chance to learn about the world during their summer break. In weeks before, students learned about Canada and New York in the free program offered at most branches of the Deschutes Public Library system.

“He just loves all the stories,” Parent Karie Woolery said of her 6-year-old son, Tyler Ortega. “It gives him something to look forward to every week.”

The afternoon of fun started with Hanneman reading to students from several picture books based on classic South Pacific folktales.

Hanneman proceeded to tell students the traditional tale of how a Hawaiian boy named Maui slowed the sun from crossing so quickly across the sky. Hanneman finished the story by telling students this was how the ancient Hawaiians explained why the daylight lasted longer half of they year.

Interisland voyages

After Hanneman taught students how to say, “I love you” and “Be quiet” in Samoan, students participated in an activity that taught them about how people migrated throughout the many islands of the Pacific.

Hanneman taught students that in order to successfully travel between islands, people of the South Pacific would have to bring key items like coconuts, taro, livestock and water with them.

Then Hanneman asked students to gather into groups of five and imagine that they were Polynesian voyagers on their way to another island.

Hanneman randomly spread out laminated strips of paper around the room representing the different necessary items for the journey and told students that the first group to collect five of each item would get to go to the island of their choice via the giant map in the front of the classroom.

When Hanneman said “go,” students scurried around the classroom, collecting the pieces of paper that were crucial for the survival of their boats. Groups that collected all of them got dibs on placing a tack on the island of their choice on the map.

“My team went to Easter Island,” Emily Blackwell, 10, said. “I liked learning about all the kind of things they took on trips, like coconuts.”

Once the activity was completed, the adventure to the South Pacific ended with students making leis. Hanneman went around, translating students’ names into their Samoan equivalents.

“I hope that if anything, they had a good time,” Hanneman said. “If maybe they remember this when they’re 25 years old and they’re journeying around the world, that would be pretty cool, too.”