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**Warning**: This update causes some API-breaking changes:
* `Table.read()` and `Store.read_table()` has now been renamed to `read_arrow()`
* The parameter `new_name` in `rename_%()` functions and methods have been changed to `to`
Enhancements:
* Improved `read_polars()` performance
* Index column now appears first when reading data as Arrow or Polars
* `read_pandas()` now converts to Pandas Series where it is possible
* Improved performance of all metadata handling