diff --git a/.DS_Store b/.DS_Store
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..56dc842
Binary files /dev/null and b/.DS_Store differ
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dbb6c4a..835e103 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,11 +20,22 @@ Requires Python >= 3.5
 4. Edit configuration file. The file is annotated with descriptions of the configuration options.
 
 ## Running
-To run batch-loader:
+1.To run batch-loader with csv file as input:
 
     source ENV/bin/activate
     python batch_loader.py <path to csv>
 
+2.To run the batch loader with excel file as input 
+
+    source ENV/bin/activate
+    python batch_loader.py <path to excel> --xlsx
+
+## Adding/Deleting/modifying a required field name 
+
+- The required field names are configurable and can be modified based on user input. To add/delete/modify the required                                  values to be loaded to the program follow the steps provided below -
+
+  1. Navigate to config.py file 
+  2. Under 'required=()' add/delete/modify the field name which is to be loaded
 
 ## Specification of CSV
 
diff --git a/batch_loader.py b/batch_loader.py
index f0cee6c..983c29b 100644
--- a/batch_loader.py
+++ b/batch_loader.py
@@ -7,21 +7,17 @@
 import os
 import shutil
 import subprocess
+import config
+
+import xlrd
+from collections import OrderedDict
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-required_field_names = (
-    'files',
-    'first_file',
-    'resource_type1',
-    'title1',
-    'creator1',
-    'license1',
-    'rights_statement',
-    'object_id'
-)
 
 
+required_field_names = config.required
+
 def load_csv(filepath):
     """
     Reads CSV and returns field names, rows
@@ -31,6 +27,30 @@ def load_csv(filepath):
         reader = csv.DictReader(csvfile)
         return reader.fieldnames, list(reader)
 
+def load_excel(filepath):
+    """
+    Reads Excel and returns field names, rows
+    """
+    log.debug('Loading excel')
+    wb = xlrd.open_workbook(filepath)
+    sheet = wb.sheet_by_index(0)
+    sheet.cell_value(0, 0)
+
+    list_1 = []
+    #list_1 is the list of field names passed in the first row
+    od = OrderedDict()
+    list_2 = []
+    #list_2 is an OrderedDict
+    for i in range(sheet.ncols):
+        list_1.insert(i, sheet.cell_value(0, i))
+
+    for j in range(1, sheet.nrows):
+        for i in range(sheet.ncols):
+            od[sheet.cell_value(0, i)] = sheet.cell_value(j, i)
+
+        list_2.append(od)
+
+    return list_1,list_2
 
 def validate_field_names(field_names):
     log.debug('Validating field names')
@@ -142,21 +162,36 @@ def repo_import(repo_metadata_filepath, title, first_file, other_files, reposito
 
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Loads into GW Scholarspace from CSV')
     parser.add_argument('--debug', action='store_true')
-    parser.add_argument('csv', help='filepath of CSV file')
+    parser.add_argument('filepath', help='filepath of CSV/Excel file')
+
+    parser.add_argument('--xlsx', action='store_true')
 
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
+
+    if args.xlsx:
+
+        #enter to load_excel method if --xlsx is passed
+        field_names, rows = load_excel(args.filepath)
+
+    else:
+
+        field_names, rows = load_csv(args.filepath)
+
+        #else load_csv method is passed
+
     logging.basicConfig(
         level=logging.DEBUG if args.debug else logging.INFO
     )
     logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)
 
-    field_names, rows = load_csv(args.csv)
-    log.info('Loading {} object from {}'.format(len(rows), args.csv))
+
+    #log.info('Loading {} object from {}'.format(len(rows), args.csv))
     validate_field_names(field_names)
     singular_field_names, repeating_field_names = analyze_field_names(field_names)
 
-    base_filepath = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(args.csv))
+    base_filepath = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(args.filepath))
+
 
     for row in rows:
         metadata = create_repository_metadata(row, singular_field_names, repeating_field_names)
@@ -181,4 +216,4 @@ def repo_import(repo_metadata_filepath, title, first_file, other_files, reposito
                 raise e
         finally:
             if (not config.debug_mode) and os.path.exists(metadata_filepath):
-                shutil.rmtree(metadata_temp_path, ignore_errors=True)
+                shutil.rmtree(metadata_temp_path, ignore_errors=True)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/example.config.py b/example.config.py
index 0ad1822..df8e183 100644
--- a/example.config.py
+++ b/example.config.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# GW ScholarSpace ingest configuration
+"""# GW ScholarSpace ingest configuration
 ingest_path = "/opt/scholarspace/scholarspace-hyrax"
 ingest_command = "rvmsudo RAILS_ENV=production rake gwss:ingest_etd"
 
@@ -6,9 +6,18 @@
 
 # Example for fake_rake:
 """
-ingest_path = "example/"
-# Command location is relative to ingest path
-ingest_command = "python ../fake_rake.py"
-
+ingest_path = "./example/"
+# # Command location is relative to ingest path
+ingest_command = "python3 ../fake_rake.py"
+#
 debug_mode = True
-"""
+
+# Add/Delete the required values below
+required = ('files',
+    'first_file',
+    'resource_type1',
+    'title1',
+    'creator1',
+    'license1',
+    'rights_statement',
+    'object_id')
diff --git a/example/.DS_Store b/example/.DS_Store
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ac62099
Binary files /dev/null and b/example/.DS_Store differ
diff --git a/example/ExcelRead.xlsx b/example/ExcelRead.xlsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa8a63d
Binary files /dev/null and b/example/ExcelRead.xlsx differ
diff --git a/example/example.csv b/example/example.csv
index 57654b4..0e82a99 100644
--- a/example/example.csv
+++ b/example/example.csv
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 files,resource_type1,title1,creator1,creator2,resource_type2,license1,first_file,object_id,depositor,rights_statement
-,Treatise,Our Treatise,"Littman, Justin","Trent, Rachel",Journal,http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/,,d504rk891,kerchner@gwu.edu,http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
-my_book,book,My Book,"Littman, Justin",,Journal,http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/,my_book/intro.txt,,openaccess@gwu.edu,http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
+,Treatise,Our Treatise,Littman-Justin,Trent-Rachel,Journal,http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/,,d504rk891,kerchner@gwu.edu,http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
+my_book,book,My Book,Littman-Justin,,Journal,http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/,my_book/intro.txt,,openaccess@gwu.edu,http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/example/example11.csv b/example/example11.csv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed5c0e9
Binary files /dev/null and b/example/example11.csv differ
diff --git a/example/my_book/.DS_Store b/example/my_book/.DS_Store
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..de89453
Binary files /dev/null and b/example/my_book/.DS_Store differ
diff --git a/fake_rake.py b/fake_rake.py
index 2d1814b..8f43549 100755
--- a/fake_rake.py
+++ b/fake_rake.py
@@ -5,4 +5,4 @@
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     print(sys.argv, file=sys.stderr)
-    print(random.randint(1, 1000000))
+    print(random.randint(1, 1000000))       
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd208ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+xlrd==1.2.0