Abstract: The present disclosure provides methods and compositions for preparation of a nucleic acid library. In some embodiments, the nucleic acids comprise cell-free DNA, including cfDNA that is in need of analysis, such as by sequencing. The methods may comprise restriction enzyme digestion, adapter ligation, and subsequent amplification, and may provide improved approaches for reducing the number adapter dimers produced during the process. In an aspect, a method for preparing a library of nucleic acids may comprise: digesting DNA molecules with restriction enzymes to produce DNA fragments; ligating adapters to the DNA fragments by incubating with ligase to produce a mixture of adapter-ligated DNA fragments and adapter dimers; amplifying the adapter-ligated DNA fragments to produce amplified adapter-ligated DNA fragments; and reducing the quantity of the adapter dimers by differentiating between the junction between an adapter and a DNA fragment, and the junction between an adapter and another adapter.