Secret codes

Tanya Berkebile | Cadillac News Emma Lloyd, 7, of Cadillac, checks out a book before the Cadillac-Wexford Public LibraryÕs summer reading program about secret codes. Although it was LloydÕs first time attending the summer reading program, she is no stranger to the library.

CADILLAC — Have you ever wanted to be a detective and use secret codes? For those who do, they need not go any further than the library to find secret codes of their own.

Wednesday, students learned all they needed to know about being a detective during the Cadillac-Wexford Public Library’s summer reading program.

Joy Martin read about the history of secret codes to the 30-some children who attended and also taught them how to make secret codes of their own.

“Secret codes have been around for a long time,” Martin said. “The Ceasar code, named after Julius Ceasar, is one of the simplest and widely-known codes still used today.”

With this code, a person shifts three letters back or forward in the alphabet. So, the letter A would be replaced by D, B would be E, and so on.

“The one thing you have to remember is that the other person has to know what the secret code is,” Martin said. “Or else it doesn’t work. You should also practice your codes and change your codes frequently in case someone figures it out.”

Other codes include sign language, the Morse code, which uses dashes and dots, and branding, which is used by farmers to place their mark on a cow that shows ownership. The code wheel is another secret code, used for sending messages. Those attending the summer reading program were able to make their own code wheel.

Tycen Nielsen, 8, of Falmouth and Naomi Center, 8, of Cadillac, both enjoyed learning about secret codes.

“It is a lot of fun,” Tycen said as she cut out her code wheel. “We are going to try to send secret codes.”

Not only are the reading programs fun for children, but Patricia Snider, who works in the library’s children’s room, said it is also educational.

“We have been advised by teachers many times that students fall back on reading in the summer,” Snider said. “These programs keep the children up-to-date on all the reading fundamentals.”

The library continues to upgrade its book collection and the children’s section has expanded since the library’s remodeling project.

Snider said some of the more popular children’s series are “Goosebumps,” “Nancy Drew,” “American Girls,” “Laura Ingalls Wilder” and “Harry Potter.”

“If you haven’t been here since the remodel, we will show you around,” Snider said. “A lot of grandparents and parents bring their children here. It is great to see the (kids’) facial expressions when they read.”

Summer hours for the Cadillac library are 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Fridays and 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

Your Local Connection

Secret codes

There are many secret codes that have been around for hundreds of years — some since the days of Julius Caesar. One easy code is using a different alphabet — either letters or numbers.

For this code, you substitute the first letter of the alphabet and so on. For example, A = Z and B = Y and C = X. This can be done by writing out the alphabet, and write out the alphabet backwards underneath.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A

The phrase “secret code” would be “hvxivg xmwv” using this code.

Your Local Connection

Secret codes

Have you ever wanted to write a note to your friend that you didn’t want anyone but your friend to see? Invisible ink can take care of that.