In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides methods of making a mixture of nucleic acid molecules, the methods comprising the steps of: synthesizing on a substrate a population of nucleic acid molecules wherein each synthesized nucleic acid molecule comprises a substrate-attached proximal nucleic acid molecule, a distal nucleic acid molecule, and a cleavable linker linking the proximal nucleic acid molecule to the distal nucleic acid molecule, and harvesting distal nucleic acid molecules from the substrate by cleaving the cleavable linker under conditions that do not release the proximal nucleic acid molecule. Related compositions and kits are also provided.