--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/lemuriformes/columns.py	Sun Dec 10 13:56:30 2017 -0800
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+"""
+Load a CSV file by columns
+"""
+
+
+import csv
+from .decorators import fileobj
+
+
+@fileobj
+def read_columns(fp, type=dict):
+    """read columns from CSV `fp` as `type`"""
+
+    reader = csv.reader(fp)
+    columns = None
+
+    for row in reader:
+
+        if columns is None:
+            # read the header
+            header = row
+
+            # make a return value
+            columns = type([(key, []) for key in header])
+            continue
+
+        for key, value in zip(header, row):
+            columns[key].append(value)
+
+    return columns