3
the worst rates of literacy in the world
(two thirds of the people do not read
or write), translation teams respond-
ed by running parallel literacy classes
in communities due to receive newly
translated Scripture.
The Digital Bible Library (DBL),
literally a digital storehouse, was set
up in 2011. It stores Scripture transla-
tions, 75% being those of the United
Bible Societies (UBS) and makes
these available for apps and websites.
Overall, the library holds 2 500 texts in
1 622 languages.
In 2019, the top five countries that
distributed more than 18, 3 million
complete Bibles were: Brazil, China,
the United States of America, India,
and rounding out the top five was
Nigeria.
Finally, portions of Scripture were
being translated into 29 sign languages
used by 5,3 million deaf people world-
wide in 2019, while 19 Bible Societies
distributed Scripture in sign languages
through video format.
Michael Perreau, Director General
of the UBS reflected, “It’s heartening to
know that, through our efforts in 2019,
millions more people are able to face
the challenges of 2020 with Scripture
in their hands.”
tS
