DNA provided Neanderthals with advantages as they adapted to new environments, however they also brought negative consequences - and nicotine addiction was among the downsides of some genes.

There are six key indicators that show you have Neanderthal DNA, genetic experts say. 

Up to two per cent of our DNA comes from our ancient predecessors. Around 60,000 years ago and Africa and Asia interbreeding happened with Neanderthals.

Sebnem Unluisler, a genetic engineer, says genes impacted everything from the colour of hair to nicotine addiction among humans nowadays. Unluisler, of the London Regenerative Institute said: "Neanderthal DNA represents only a small percentage of the modern human genome, and these influences are just one piece of the genetic puzzle that makes each person unique." There are six unique characteristics that show we've still got some Neanderthal DNA.

Hair

Modern humans with thick, straight hair may also have Neanderthal DNA and some people with Neanderthral DNA may have this trait. Studies have also shown red hair was common among their ancient predecessors.

You can read about quite a few more indicators that show you have Neanderthal DNA in an article by Graeme Murray published in the mirror.co.uk web site at: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/six-indicators-show-you-neanderthal-31830275

The following is a press release written by the folks at: Parabon NanoLabs, Inc.:

Parabon proudly announces the groundbreaking achievement of having helped law enforcement agencies make over 300 positive identifications in cases involving violent offenders and unidentified remains. This milestone includes historic moments - the world's first conviction resulting from a lead generated by genetic genealogy (via a plea deal), as well as the first jury conviction from a genetic genealogy lead in both the United States and Canada. (1-3)

Approximately 65% of Parabon’s cases involved violent offenders (living or deceased at the time of identification). The closure of multiple cases in 2023 by the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) involving a serial predator provides a glimpse into the types of violent offender cases Parabon tackles. In 1987, Cathy Sposito, a college student, was sexually assaulted and murdered on the Thumb Butte Trail in Prescott, Arizona. At that time, the use of DNA was in its infancy. Because the unknown assailant’s DNA from the murder weapon was mixed with the victim’s, the case went cold. In April 1990 a similar attack occurred on the trail, but this time the victim lived. In 2020 Parabon was asked to analyze DNA from the 1990 case. Through the use of Parabon’s Snapshot genetic genealogy service, Parabon identified Bryan Scott Bennett as a possible person-of-interest. Upon investigation of Bennett, YCSO discovered that he had been tried and acquitted of another attempted sexual assault just a few months after the 1990 attack. After further investigation into Bennett, YCSO obtained authorization for an exhumation of his remains to confirm Parabon’s hypothesis. By directly comparing his exhumed DNA to the crime-scene DNA, his connection to the 1990 assault was confirmed. Noting parallels with Sposito's case, YCSO had the mixed DNA sample from the Sposito murder weapon reanalyzed using modern forensic methods and then compared to Bennett’s. It was determined by an accredited forensic laboratory that the contributors of the DNA mixture belonged to the victim, Cathy Sposito, and Bryan Scott Bennett, enabling the agency to close the case. 

Parabon’s identification milestone also includes human remains cases. Many such cases have low quantity and/or poor-quality DNA. A notable example is the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) case in Washington involving human remains discovered in 1986, referred to as "Bones 17." This case was one of the last unidentified victims of Gary Ridgway, known as the 'Green River Killer' and one of the most prolific serial killers in the United States. In September 2019, KCSO reached out to Parabon for assistance. Despite only 3.04% of the entire sample registering as human DNA due to the commingling of bacterial and/or plant DNA, Parabon was able to provide DNA phenotype information, which included predictions of the victim’s physical description and ancestry, along with genetic genealogy analysis. The ability to use the DNA was due to Parabon’s implementation of low-coverage imputation along with a proprietary technique to ensure high-quality genetic genealogy matching to distant relatives. This breakthrough bioinformatics technique opened the door to additional genealogy matches in this case, allowing Parabon’s Chief Genetic Genealogist, CeCe Moore, to conduct the analysis. 

With a voluntary DNA sample from an immediate family member, detectives from the KCSO confirmed the identity of human remains as belonging to Lori Anne Razpotnik, who had run away from home in 1982 in her early teens and was never seen by her family again. KCSO held a press conference in December 2023 to announce the resolution of the case.

Since its inception, Parabon’s Snapshot® Advanced DNA Analysis Division, has been dedicated to providing leads to law enforcement around the globe. Reaching the mark of over 300 confirmed identifications is a testament to the expertise of the entire Parabon Snapshot team. By leveraging the latest advancements in DNA processing, bioinformatics, phenotyping, kinship inference and investigative genetic genealogy, the company has significantly contributed to the resolution of complex cases and has established a strong reputation for reliability and excellence within the industry.

“At the heart of our Snapshot division mission is an unwavering determination to help law enforcement obtain justice and provide answers for victims and their families,” said Parabon CEO, Dr. Steve Armentrout. “I am tremendously proud of our Snapshot team for reaching this incredible milestone. It’s a reflection of their relentless dedication and expertise in providing top-notch solutions to our clients."

For a detailed breakdown of Parabon's performance metrics for its Snapshot DNA lead generation work, please refer to the accompanying table available in the image section of this release.

For more information about Parabon and its Snapshot services, please visit snapshot.parabon-nanolabs.com.

----------
(1) State of Indiana v John D Miller (02D06-1807-MR-15); 
(2) State of Washington v William Earl Talbott, II (18-1-01670-31); and,
(3) Ontario Superior Court of Justice, defendant Robert Steven Wright (R v Wright 2019 ONSC 1598)

On March 29, 2011, the body of a decapitated woman was discovered in a vineyard in Arvin, a town just over the Los Angeles county line. 

Earlier this month, nearly 13 years later, the victim was identified as Ada Beth Kaplan, a Jewish woman who was 64 at the time of her death. 

The tortuous journey to cracking the mystery of Kaplan’s name involved a “long and hard” multiyear effort by a DNA-focused nonprofit, eight generations of family records and the work of two Jewish genealogists who understood just how thorny it can be, sometimes, to ascertain the identity of an unknown Ashkenazi Jew.

“It’s kind of a miracle that this was figured out, in a lot of ways,” said Adina Newman, the co-founder of the DNA Reunion Project at the Center for Jewish History in New York City. “Giving Ada Kaplan her name back when people didn’t even realize she was missing is just such a big deal to me.”

Kaplan’s decomposing body was found naked, decapitated and mutilated in 2011, with few clues to who she was or how she met her end. Her case remained unsolved and, in 2020, the Kern County Coroner enlisted the help of the DNA Doe Project, an organization that uses genetic genealogy analysis to build out the family tree of unidentified victims in an effort to find their identities. 

Kaplan’s DNA indicated that she was an Ashkenazi Jew, an ethnic heritage that was as much a challenge as a step forward. The team of researchers initially found only Kaplan’s distant cousins, who had common Eastern European Jewish last names and spanned eight generations. 

That made it difficult to pinpoint her specific ancestors, among all people with those surnames, and place them in a family tree. Researchers were barred from using certain large DNA databases such as Ancestry.com and 23andMe, whose terms of service bar working with police.

“Honestly it scared me, because I didn’t know that I could solve her case,” Missy Koski, the researchers’ team leader, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency regarding Kaplan’s Ashkenazi heritage. 

You can read more in an article written by Jackie Hajdenberg and published in the jta.org web site at: http://tinyurl.com/27jdumuf.

Here is a list of all of this week's articles, all of them available here at https://eogn.com: 

I am celebrating an anniversary today. Maybe you will celebrate with me.

28 years ago today I published the first edition of this newsletter!

Where did the time go?

It seems like only yesterday that I decided to start writing a genealogy newsletter for a few of my friends and acquaintances. Well, it wasn’t yesterday… it was exactly 28 years ago today!

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that 28 years would be so interesting, so much fun, and so rewarding. 

Twenty-eight years has slipped by in almost the blink of an eye. It seems like only yesterday that I sent the first e-mail newsletter to about 100 people, mostly members of CompuServe’s Genealogy Forums. (Do you remember CompuServe?) The last time I looked, this newsletter now has tens of thousands of readers tuning in every day! If you would have told me that 28 years ago, I would have never believed you.

This little newsletter started as a way for me to help friends to learn about new developments in genealogy, to learn about conferences and seminars, and to learn about new technologies that were useful to genealogists. I especially focused on what was then the newly-invented thing called the World Wide Web. In 1996 many people had never heard of the World Wide Web, and most people didn’t understand it.

None of the first recipients knew in advance that the newsletter would arrive; I simply e-mailed it to people who I thought might be interested. In 1996 nobody objected to receiving unsolicited bulk mail; the phrase “spam mail” had not yet been invented. I shudder to think if I did the same thing in today’s internet environment.

The word “blog” also had not yet been invented in 1996, so I simply called it an “electronic newsletter.” Some things never change; I still refer to it as an “electronic newsletter” although obviously it is a blog.

Here is a quote from that first newsletter published on January 15, 1996:

“Well, it’s started. This newsletter is something that I have been considering for a long time, but I finally decided to “take the plunge.” I’ve subscribed to several other electronic newsletters for some time now and have found them to be valuable. On many occasions I have said to myself, “Someone ought to do a weekly newsletter for genealogy news.” One day the light bulb went on, and I decided that perhaps I was that someone.

“I hope to collect various bits of information that cross my desk and appear on my screen every week. Some of these items may be considered ‘news items’ concerning events and happenings of interest to computer-owning genealogists. Some other items will be mini press releases about new genealogy software or other products and services that have just become available. I may write a few articles about things that are not genealogy-related but still seem to be of interest to me and probably to the readers. This may include articles about online systems, operating systems or other things that affect many of us.

“You will also find editorials and my personal opinions weaving in and out of this newsletter. Hopefully I will be able to clearly identify the information that is a personal opinion.

“The expected audience of this newsletter includes anyone in the genealogy business, any genealogy society officers and anyone with an interest in applying computers to help in the research of one’s ancestors

“I chose to distribute in electronic format for two reasons: (1.) it’s easy, and (2.) it’s cheap. In years past I have been an editor of other newsletters that were printed on paper and mailed in the normal manner. The ‘overhead’ associated with that effort was excessive; I spent more time dealing with printers, maintaining addresses of subscribers, handling finances, stuffing envelopes and running to the post office than I did in the actual writing. Today’s technology allows for a much faster distribution, and it is done at almost no expense to either the producer or the subscribers. I want to spend my time writing, not running a ‘newsletter business.’

“Since the expected readers all own computers and almost all of them use modems regularly, electronic distribution seems to be the most cost-effective route to use. It also is much lower cost than any other distribution mechanism that I know of.”

The original plan has been followed rather closely in the 28 years since I wrote those words. The newsletter still consists of “events and happenings of interest to computer-owning genealogists,” “mini press releases about new genealogy software or other products and services,” and “a few articles about things that are not genealogy-related but still seem to be of interest to me.” I have also frequently featured “editorials and my personal opinions.”

One thing that has changed is that the newsletter was converted from a weekly publication to a daily effort about 23 years ago. I am delighted with the change to a daily format. There is a lot more flexibility when publishing daily and, of course, I can get the news out faster.

Another thing that has changed is the delivery method. In 1996, this newsletter was delivered to readers only by email. The reason was simple: most computer owners in those days didn’t use the World Wide Web. In fact, most of them didn’t even know what the World Wide Web was.

Tim Berners-Lee proposed a new service of hypertext inter-connected pages on different computers in 1991, when Web servers were unknown. By January 1993 there were fifty Web servers across the world. A web browser was available at that time, but only for the NeXT operating system, a version of UNIX. Web browsers for Windows and Macintosh systems were not available until June 1993. Even then, the World Wide Web did not become popular with the general public until the dot-com boom of 1999 to 2001.

Prior to the dot-com boom of 1999 to 2001, email was the best method of sending information to others.

One feature that I like about the current daily web-based publication is that each article has an attached discussion board where readers can offer comments, corrections, and supplemental information. The result is a much more interactive newsletter that benefits from readers’ expertise. The newsletter originally was a one-way publication: I pushed the data out. Today’s version is a two-way publication with immediate feedback from readers.

The 2023 newsletter does differ from one statement I wrote 28 years ago:

“Today’s technology allows for a much faster distribution, and it is done at almost no expense to either the producer or the subscribers.” If I were to re-write that sentence today, I wouldn’t use the phrase, “at almost no expense.” I would write, “…at lower expense than publishing on paper.”

Since I wrote the original words 28 years ago, I have received an education in the financial implications of sending bulk e-mails and maintaining web sites, complete with controls of who can access which documents. I now know that it costs thousands of dollars a year to send thousands of e-mail messages every week. There are technical problems as well. Someday I may write an article about “how to get your account canceled when you repeatedly crash your Internet Service Provider’s mail server.”

The truth is I did crash mail servers a number of times in the early days of this newsletter. And, yes, I got my account canceled one day by an irate internet service provider. I was abruptly left with no e-mail service at all. The internet service provider discovered that their mail server crashed every week when I e-mailed this newsletter, so they canceled my account with no warning. I now use a (paid) professional bulk email service to send those messages plus I now publish on the World Wide Web. I also hope that internet service provider has since improved the company’s email server(s)!

In the third issue of this newsletter, I answered questions that a number of people had asked. I wrote:

“I hope to issue this [newsletter] every week. … I reserve the right to change my mind at any time without notice. Also, the first three issues have all been much longer than I originally envisioned. I expect that the average size of the newsletter within a few weeks will be about one half what the first three issues have been. Do not be surprised when you see it shrink in size.”

Well, I was wrong. The first three issues averaged about 19,000 bytes of text. The newsletter never did shrink. Instead, the average size of the newsletters continued to grow. The weekly e-mail Plus Edition newsletters of the past few years have averaged more than 500,000 bytes each, more than twenty-five times the average size of the first three issues. In fact, each weekly newsletter today is bigger than the first ten weekly issues combined!

So much for my prognostication!

In fact, you receive more genealogy-related articles in this newsletter than in any printed magazine. Subscriptions for the Plus Edition of this newsletter also remain less expensive than subscriptions to any of the leading printed genealogy magazines. Also, there aren’t as many printed genealogy magazines available today as there were 28 years ago.

In 28 years I have missed only twelve weekly editions for vacations, genealogy cruises, 2 broken arms, multiple hospital stays, one airplane accident (yes, I was the pilot), and family emergencies.

I broke both arms one day by slipping on an icy walkway and still missed only one newsletter as a result! I found typing on a keyboard to be difficult with two arms in casts. (There were a number of other things that proved to be difficult to accomplish with two arms in casts!) The following week I wrote an article about speech input devices as I dictated that week’s newsletter into a microphone connected to my PC.

Several months later, I suffered bruises and wrenched my neck severely when I had an engine failure in my tiny, single-seat, open cockpit airplane. The plane and I landed in a treetop and then fell to the ground about eighty feet below, bouncing off tree limbs as the wreckage of airplane and pilot fell to the ground together. I landed upside down with the wreckage of the airplane on top of me. (Landing upside down in an open cockpit airplane is not the recommended landing procedure!) Yet I missed only one issue as a result of that mishap even though the following issue was written while wearing a neck brace and swallowing pain pills that made me higher than that airplane ever flew.

Ten years ago, an emergency appendectomy caused me to miss mailing of the newsletter for a week. I have rarely taken time off for vacations.

This past year I fell, hit the back of my head (with a really hard impact) on a paved driveway, and missed the next 5 days of publishing as I sat in a local hospital without an available computer. My eyesight still isn’t back to normal.

Over the years I hopefully have become more cautious: I stopped flying tiny airplanes, and I have now moved to Florida in order to avoid the ice. I also have published more than 100,000 newsletter articles. Someday I really do have to learn how to touch type.

Because of this newsletter, in the past 28 years I have traveled all over the U.S. as well as to Singapore, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Israel, and Ireland, and have made multiple trips each to Canada, England, Scotland, Mexico, China, and to several Caribbean islands.

Because of this newsletter, I have met many enthusiastic genealogists. Because of this newsletter, I have had the opportunity to use great software, to view many excellent web sites, and to use lots of new gadgets. Because of this newsletter, I have discovered a number of my own ancestors. I am indeed fortunate and have truly been blessed.

I’ve always tried to make this newsletter REAL and from the heart. I don’t pull any punches. I write about whatever is on my mind. And if that offends some people, then so be it. I don’t expect everyone to agree with all of my opinions. There is plenty of room in this world for disagreements and differing viewpoints amongst friends. There are too many watered-down, politically correct newsletters and blogs out there already. I plan to continue to write whatever is on my mind. If you disagree with me, please feel free to say so.

To each person reading today’s edition, I want to say one thing: From the bottom of my heart, thank you for tuning in each day and reading what I have to say.

Also, one other sentence I wrote 28 years ago still stands: suggestions about this newsletter are always welcome.

The next decade of The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.) is now available online at Digital NC, thanks to our partner UNC Chapel Hill.

One of the biggest moments of the decade? President Obama’s historic election win in 2008. Click here to revisit this incredible moment in United States’ history.

These volumes also offer commentary on a myriad of issues affecting the Black community, both in Durham and nationwide. Prominent topics range from civil rights, societal and political inequality, and police brutality. This newspaper is a rich resource for any researcher and historian.

While the paper reports on national news, it also zooms in on local culture, celebrating joy in the Durham community. Below are selected images from parades, graduations, and other community-wide events.

To explore The Carolina Times further, click here! And to search through other North Carolina newspapers, click here.

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. 

Many of today's genealogy programs will create web pages that you can upload to a web hosting service in the Internet. This allows you to share your genealogy information with everyone on the World Wide Web, or (optionally) you can restrict access to those you allow by using a password. Programs that will generate web-ready HTML files include RootsMagic, Legacy Family Tree, AncestralQuest, Second Site (works with The Master Genealogist), GRAMPS, Reunion (for Macintosh), and a number of others.

However, the question soon arises: "Where should I host these pages?"

The quick answer is "It all depends." In this article, I will describe some of the available options.

The remainder of this article is reserved for Plus Edition subscribers only. If you have a Plus Edition subscription, you may read the full article at: https://eogn.com/(*)-Plus-Edition-News-Articles/13300535.

The following announcement was written by the folks at Findmypast:

This Findmypast Friday, there are 45,000 new records to discover.

Our collection grew by 44,999 records this week. We've updated three of our existing record sets, and added new pages to 12 of our historical newspaper titles. 

Discover more about your military ancestors at the turn of the 20th century with over 24,000 new Anglo-Boer War records. With new Derbyshire baptisms and Yorkshire monumental inscriptions also added, there is so much to explore.

Anglo-Boer War Records 1899-1902

Do you have ancestors who fought in South Africa at the turn of the 20th century? If so, this week's release may help you to break down a brick wall. 

Trench warfare during the Boer War.

Covering the years 1899-1902, 24,088 new transcriptions have bolstered our existing collection of Anglo-Boer War records this Findmypast Friday. Explore the record of decorated New Zealand soldier William Hardham and so much more within this updated set.

Derbyshire Births & Baptisms

Next up, we've also added 13,932 baptism records from Derbyshire's non-conformist parishes. 

These new transcriptions span over 200 years, from 1760 to 1966.

Yorkshire Monumental Inscriptions, Exley Cemetery

Our Yorkshire monumental inscriptions collection was also updated this week, with 6,979 records from Exley Cemetery.

These new additions span the years 1626 to 2023 and contain key information like the deceased's name, age, birth year, death year, and the location of their memorial. You may also find personalised inscriptions listed on some of these records, which can help to add rich detail to your family tree.

Explore even more stories with the newspaper archive

Our newspaper collection grew by 50,963 pages this week, with updates to 12 of our existing publications. The majority of these new pages are from the year 1917, offering a fascinating insight into this wartime year in British history. 

Guernsey Evening Press, 27 February 1917.

With pages also added for 1964 and 1979, explore new pages from Galway to Guernsey this Findmypast Friday.

Updated titles:

• Berkshire Chronicle, 1917
• Bradford Daily Telegraph, 1917
• Citizen (Letchworth), 1917
• Devizes and Wilts Advertiser, 1917
• Downham Market Gazette, 1917
• Dublin Leader, 1964
• Evening Star, 1917
• Galway Observer, 1964
• Guernsey Evening Press and Star, 1917
• Nottingham Evening Post, 1979
• Stalybridge Reporter, 1917
• Wiltshire Telegraph, 1917

Have you made a surprising family history discovery? Whatever you've uncovered about your past, we'd love to hear about it. You can now get in touch and tell us using this handy form.

Last week, we added over 22,000 brand new British Army records - if your ancestor served in the military, their name may just appear within these new additions. Explore the full release for yourself here.

The following announcement was written by the folks at TheGenealogist:

The latest 1939 Register update has now been released by TheGenealogist.

More than 389,600 new individuals have been added after being opened in accordance with the 100-year rule and open requests submitted by the public. This now means we can search for even more of our ancestors from this period and see where they lived using the powerful mapping tools that TheGenealogist has a reputation for providing. 

As these records are linked to pins on TheGenealogist’s Map Explorer™, a tool that allows you to view both historical and modern maps, family historians are able to explore the neighbourhood where their forebears lived as WW2 broke out.

Actor and director Richard Attenborough’s record in the 1939 Register is included in the release. His family home, College House, Leicester, is shown as a linked pin on TheGenealogist’s Map Explorer™

Map Explorer™ will often be able to show the location of properties from 1939 down to the actual building in many cases and at least to the thoroughfare or parish. This makes it a great tool for the family historian to use to find where their forebears lived at this time.

House historians will also be excited to discover that TheGenealogist’s version of the 1939 Register can also be searched from a plot on a map to find who lived there in 1939. This turns the search on its head - as well as being able to look for where a person lived, you can also search for who lived at a property. You can even use Map Explorer to browse the map from house to house to see who lived there, a feature that can only be found on TheGenealogist.

With more precise mapping features, there are some very compelling reasons to search the 1939 Register on TheGenealogist. 

• Unique and powerful search tools and SmartSearch technology offer a uniquely flexible way to look for your ancestors

• Use Map Explorer to explore an area in 1939 and see how it changed over time
  
  

• Break down your brick walls when searching using keywords, such as the individual’s occupation or date of birth
  
  

• Search for an address and then jump straight to the household, or if you are struggling to find a family, you can even search using as many of their forenames as you know
  
  

• SmartSearch technology enables you to discover even more about a person by linking to their Birth, Marriage and Death Records

12 Month Diamond Package Only £109.95

To celebrate this latest release, TheGenealogist is offering your readers a 12 Month Diamond package for just £109.95, a Saving of Over £60

This offer comes with a Lifetime Discount, meaning you’ll pay the same discounted price every time your subscription renews.

To find out more and claim the offer, visit: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/MGBREG124

This offer expires at the end of 12th April 2024.

See TheGenealogist’s article: Updated 1939 Register reveals schoolboy Richard ‘Dickie’ Attenborough on a University Campus in Leicester.https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2024/1939-register-reveals-schoolboy-dickie-attenborough-on-a-university-campus-in-leicester-6924/

About TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist is an award-winning online family history website, who put a wealth of information at the fingertips of family historians. Their approach is to bring hard to use physical records to life online with easy to use interfaces such as their Tithe and newly released Lloyd George Domesday collections. 

TheGenealogist’s innovative SmartSearch technology links records together to help you find your ancestors more easily. TheGenealogist is one of the leading providers of online family history records. Along with the standard Birth, Marriage, Death and Census records, they also have significant collections of Parish and Nonconformist records, PCC Will Records, Irish Records, Military records, Occupations, Newspaper record collections amongst many others.

TheGenealogist uses the latest technology to help you bring your family history to life. Use TheGenealogist to find your ancestors today!

Here is an article that caught my eye today. It confirms my earlier suspicions about the book world and the library world are both converting from printed-on-paper books to digital books. From an article by Andrew Albanese printed in the publishersweekly.com web site:

OverDrive reps reported this week that a record 152 library systems and consortia across seven countries—including 41 states and seven Canadian provinces—surpassed the one million digital lends benchmark in 2023, which includes e-books, digital audiobooks, and digital magazines. The numbers represent a significant jump from the 129 library systems that hit the milestone in 2022.

The 152 public libraries hitting the milestone are based in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

For the second year in a row, the Los Angeles Public Library topped the global list, with more than 12 million digital titles circulated; MELSA: Twin Cities Metro eLibrary in Minnesota remains the highest circulating consortium. Houston Public Library in Texas experienced the highest year-over-year circulation growth, up 57%,, while Öffntlicher Bibliotheken in Berlin, Germany, held the strongest growth for a library outside North America—up 46%—for the third consecutive year. In addition, OverDrive said that 23 library systems hit the million lend mark for the first time in 2023.

The news comes a week after OverDrive reported that 2023 was another record-breaking year for digital library circulation, with a 19% increase in library checkouts of digital media over 2022. In all, library users worldwide borrowed some 662 million e-books, digital audiobooks, and digital magazines.

The entire article is much longer and can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/2pvudpkc.