diff --git a/catalog/catalog.go b/catalog/catalog.go
index 8d36677d..f8c8622c 100644
--- a/catalog/catalog.go
+++ b/catalog/catalog.go
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ func load(rootDmap *sync.Map, d *Directory, subPath, rootPath string) error {
 			}
 			// Mark this as a pending Fileinfo reference
 			d.datafile[leafPath] = new(io.TimeBucketInfo)
-			d.datafile[leafPath].IsRead = false
+			d.datafile[leafPath].IsInitialized = io.TbiNotInitialized
 			d.datafile[leafPath].Path = leafPath
 			yearFileBase := filepath.Base(leafPath)
 			yearString := yearFileBase[:len(yearFileBase)-4]
diff --git a/utils/io/metadata.go b/utils/io/metadata.go
index cb62c0dc..b800fabf 100644
--- a/utils/io/metadata.go
+++ b/utils/io/metadata.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"os"
 	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"unsafe"
 
 	"fmt"
@@ -18,6 +19,13 @@ import (
 const Headersize = 37024
 const FileinfoVersion = int64(2.0)
 
+type IsInitialized = uint32
+
+var (
+	TbiInitialized    IsInitialized = 1
+	TbiNotInitialized IsInitialized = 0
+)
+
 func nanosecondsInYear(year int) int64 {
 	start := time.Date(year, time.January, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.Local)
 	end := time.Date(year+1, time.January, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.Local)
@@ -30,12 +38,12 @@ func FileSize(tf time.Duration, year int, recordSize int) int64 {
 }
 
 type TimeBucketInfo struct {
-	// Year, Path and IsRead are all set on catalog startup
+	// Year, Path and IsInitialized are all set on catalog startup
 	Year int16
 	// Path is the absolute path to the data binary file.
 	// (e.g. "/project/marketstore/data/TEST/1Sec/Tick/2021.bin")
-	Path   string
-	IsRead bool
+	Path          string
+	IsInitialized IsInitialized
 
 	version     int64
 	description string
@@ -52,7 +60,7 @@ type TimeBucketInfo struct {
 	elementNames         []string
 	elementTypes         []EnumElementType
 
-	once sync.Once
+	mu sync.Mutex
 }
 
 func AlignedSize(unalignedSize int) (alignedSize int) {
@@ -67,19 +75,22 @@ func AlignedSize(unalignedSize int) (alignedSize int) {
 func NewTimeBucketInfo(tf utils.Timeframe, path, description string, year int16, dsv []DataShape, recordType EnumRecordType) (f *TimeBucketInfo) {
 	elementTypes, elementNames := CreateShapesForTimeBucketInfo(dsv)
 	f = &TimeBucketInfo{
-		version:      FileinfoVersion,
-		Path:         filepath.Join(path, strconv.Itoa(int(year))+".bin"),
-		IsRead:       true,
-		timeframe:    tf.Duration,
-		description:  description,
-		Year:         year,
-		nElements:    int32(len(elementTypes)),
+		Year:          year,
+		Path:          filepath.Join(path, strconv.Itoa(int(year))+".bin"),
+		IsInitialized: 1,
+		version:       FileinfoVersion,
+		description:   description,
+		timeframe:     tf.Duration,
+
+		nElements:  int32(len(elementTypes)),
+		recordType: recordType,
+
 		elementTypes: elementTypes,
 		elementNames: elementNames,
-		recordType:   recordType,
 	}
 	if f.recordType == FIXED {
 		f.recordLength = int32(AlignedSize(f.getFieldRecordLength())) + 8 // add an 8-byte epoch field
+		f.variableRecordLength = 0
 	} else if f.recordType == VARIABLE {
 		f.recordLength = 24 // Length of the indirect data pointer {index, offset, len}
 		f.variableRecordLength = 0
@@ -87,6 +98,39 @@ func NewTimeBucketInfo(tf utils.Timeframe, path, description string, year int16,
 	return f
 }
 
+func NewTimeBucketInfoFromFile(path string) (*TimeBucketInfo, error) {
+	header, err := readHeader(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("read header of TimeBucketInfo path=%s:%w", path, err)
+	}
+
+	return NewTimeBucketInfoFromHeader(header, path), nil
+}
+
+// NewTimeBucketInfoFromHeader creates a TimeBucketInfo from a given Header
+func NewTimeBucketInfoFromHeader(hp *Header, path string) *TimeBucketInfo {
+	f := &TimeBucketInfo{
+		Year:                 int16(hp.Year),
+		Path:                 filepath.Clean(path),
+		IsInitialized:        TbiInitialized,
+		version:              hp.Version,
+		description:          string(bytes.Trim(hp.Description[:], "\x00")),
+		timeframe:            time.Duration(hp.Timeframe),
+		nElements:            int32(hp.NElements),
+		recordType:           EnumRecordType(hp.RecordType),
+		recordLength:         int32(hp.RecordLength),
+		variableRecordLength: 0,
+		elementNames:         nil,
+		elementTypes:         nil,
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < int(f.nElements); i++ {
+		baseName := string(bytes.Trim(hp.ElementNames[i][:], "\x00"))
+		f.elementNames = append(f.elementNames, baseName)
+		f.elementTypes = append(f.elementTypes, EnumElementType(hp.ElementTypes[i]))
+	}
+	return f
+}
+
 func CreateShapesForTimeBucketInfo(dsv []DataShape) (elementTypes []EnumElementType, elementNames []string) {
 	/*
 		Takes a datashape array and returns elementTypes and elementNames
@@ -125,11 +169,14 @@ func (f *TimeBucketInfo) getFieldRecordLength() (fieldRecordLength int) {
 
 // GetDeepCopy returns a copy of this TimeBucketInfo.
 func (f *TimeBucketInfo) GetDeepCopy() *TimeBucketInfo {
-	f.once.Do(f.initFromFile)
+	err := f.initFromFile()
+	if err != nil {
+
+	}
 	fcopy := TimeBucketInfo{
 		Year:                 f.Year,
 		Path:                 f.Path,
-		IsRead:               f.IsRead,
+		IsInitialized:        f.IsInitialized,
 		version:              f.version,
 		description:          f.description,
 		timeframe:            f.timeframe,
@@ -145,62 +192,88 @@ func (f *TimeBucketInfo) GetDeepCopy() *TimeBucketInfo {
 	return &fcopy
 }
 
-func (f *TimeBucketInfo) initFromFile() {
-	if f.IsRead {
+// initFromFile retrieves all TimeBucketInfo parameters from f.filepath
+// if the tbi is not initialized.
+// Context: When catalog.Directory is loaded, new TimeBucketInfo struct is lazily constructed
+// with only f.filepath and f.isInitialized=io.TbiNotInitialized parameters
+// so that it doesn't need to actually open files to get the params.
+// This function is called when the TimeBucketInfo is actually used.
+func (f *TimeBucketInfo) initFromFile() error {
+	if atomic.LoadUint32(&f.IsInitialized) == TbiInitialized {
 		// do nothing if we found it already done
-		return
+		return nil
 	}
-	if err := f.readHeader(f.Path); err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err.Error())
+
+	f.mu.Lock()
+	defer f.mu.Unlock()
+
+	// if not initialized yet, read the information from the file
+	tbi, err := NewTimeBucketInfoFromFile(f.Path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to read TimeBucketInfo from file %s:%w", f.Path, err)
 	}
-	f.IsRead = true
+	f.Year = tbi.Year
+	f.Path = tbi.Path
+	f.version = tbi.version
+	f.description = tbi.description
+	f.timeframe = tbi.timeframe
+	f.nElements = tbi.nElements
+	f.recordType = tbi.recordType
+	f.recordLength = tbi.recordLength
+	f.variableRecordLength = tbi.variableRecordLength
+	f.elementNames = make([]string, len(tbi.elementNames))
+	f.elementTypes = make([]EnumElementType, len(tbi.elementTypes))
+	copy(f.elementNames, tbi.elementNames)
+	copy(f.elementTypes, tbi.elementTypes)
+
+	atomic.StoreUint32(&f.IsInitialized, TbiInitialized)
+	return nil
 }
 
 // GetVersion returns the version number for the given TimeBucketInfo.
 func (f *TimeBucketInfo) GetVersion() int64 {
-	f.once.Do(f.initFromFile)
+	f.initFromFile()
 	return f.version
 }
 
 // GetDescription returns the description string contained in the
 // given TimeBucketInfo.
 func (f *TimeBucketInfo) GetDescription() string {
-	f.once.Do(f.initFromFile)
+	f.initFromFile()
 	return f.description
 }
 
 // GetTimeframe returns the duration for which each record's data is valid.
 // This means for 1Min resolution data, GetTimeframe will return time.Minute.
 func (f *TimeBucketInfo) GetTimeframe() time.Duration {
-	f.once.Do(f.initFromFile)
+	f.initFromFile()
 	return f.timeframe
 }
 
 // GetIntervals returns the number of records that can fit in a 24 hour day.
 func (f *TimeBucketInfo) GetIntervals() int64 {
-	f.once.Do(f.initFromFile)
-	return int64(utils.Day.Nanoseconds()) / int64(f.timeframe.Nanoseconds())
+	f.initFromFile()
+	return utils.Day.Nanoseconds() / f.timeframe.Nanoseconds()
 }
 
 // GetNelements returns the number of elements (data fields) for a given
 // TimeBucketInfo.
 func (f *TimeBucketInfo) GetNelements() int32 {
-	f.once.Do(f.initFromFile)
+	f.initFromFile()
 	return f.nElements
 }
 
 // GetRecordLength returns the length of a single record in the file described
 // by the given TimeBucketInfo
 func (f *TimeBucketInfo) GetRecordLength() int32 {
-	f.once.Do(f.initFromFile)
+	f.initFromFile()
 	return f.recordLength
 }
 
 // GetVariableRecordLength returns the length of a single record for a variable
 // length TimeBucketInfo file
 func (f *TimeBucketInfo) GetVariableRecordLength() int32 {
-	f.once.Do(f.initFromFile)
-
+	f.initFromFile()
 	if f.recordType == VARIABLE && f.variableRecordLength == 0 {
 		// Variable records use the raw element sizes plus a 4-byte trailer for interval ticks
 		f.variableRecordLength = int32(f.getFieldRecordLength()) + 4 // Variable records have a 4-byte trailer
@@ -211,21 +284,21 @@ func (f *TimeBucketInfo) GetVariableRecordLength() int32 {
 // GetRecordType returns the type of the file described by the TimeBucketInfo
 // as an EnumRecordType
 func (f *TimeBucketInfo) GetRecordType() EnumRecordType {
-	f.once.Do(f.initFromFile)
+	f.initFromFile()
 	return f.recordType
 }
 
 // GetElementNames returns the field names contained by the file described by
 // the given TimeBucketInfo
 func (f *TimeBucketInfo) GetElementNames() []string {
-	f.once.Do(f.initFromFile)
+	f.initFromFile()
 	return f.elementNames
 }
 
 // GetElementTypes returns the field types contained by the file described by
 // the given TimeBucketInfo
 func (f *TimeBucketInfo) GetElementTypes() []EnumElementType {
-	f.once.Do(f.initFromFile)
+	f.initFromFile()
 	return f.elementTypes
 }
 
@@ -241,20 +314,20 @@ func (f *TimeBucketInfo) SetElementTypes(newTypes []EnumElementType) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (f *TimeBucketInfo) readHeader(path string) (err error) {
+func readHeader(path string) (header *Header, err error) {
 	file, err := os.Open(path)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Error("Failed to open file: %v - Error: %v", path, err)
-		return err
+		return nil, err
 	}
 	defer file.Close()
 	var buffer [Headersize]byte
-	header := (*Header)(unsafe.Pointer(&buffer))
+	header = (*Header)(unsafe.Pointer(&buffer))
 	// Read the top part of the header, which is not dependent on the number of elements
 	n, err := file.Read(buffer[:312])
 	if err != nil || n != 312 {
 		log.Error("Failed to read header part1 from file: %v - Error: %v", path, err)
-		return err
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read header part1 from file: %s - Error: %w", path, err)
 	}
 
 	// Second part of read element names
@@ -262,17 +335,20 @@ func (f *TimeBucketInfo) readHeader(path string) (err error) {
 	n, err = file.Read(buffer[312 : 312+secondReadSize])
 	if err != nil || n != int(secondReadSize) {
 		log.Error("Failed to read header part2 from file: %v - Error: %v", path, err)
-		return err
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read header part2 from file: %s - Error: %w", path, err)
 	}
 	// Read past empty element name space
-	file.Seek(1024*32-secondReadSize, os.SEEK_CUR)
+	_, err = file.Seek(1024*32-secondReadSize, os.SEEK_CUR)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to seek file %v to read past empty element name space: %w", file, err)
+	}
 
 	// Read element types
 	start := 312 + 1024*32
 	n, err = file.Read(buffer[start : start+int(header.NElements)])
 	if err != nil || n != int(header.NElements) {
 		log.Error("Failed to read header part3 from file: %v - Error: %v", path, err)
-		return err
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read header part3 from file: %s - Error: %w", path, err)
 	}
 	if EnumRecordType(header.RecordType) == VARIABLE {
 		// Read to end of header
@@ -280,37 +356,10 @@ func (f *TimeBucketInfo) readHeader(path string) (err error) {
 		n, err = file.Read(buffer[start:Headersize])
 		if err != nil || n != (Headersize-start) {
 			log.Error("Failed to read header part4 from file: %v - Error: %v", path, err)
-			return err
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read header part4 from file: %s - Error: %w", path, err)
 		}
 	}
-	f.load(header, path)
-	return nil
-}
-
-func (f *TimeBucketInfo) load(hp *Header, path string) {
-	f.version = hp.Version
-	f.description = string(bytes.Trim(hp.Description[:], "\x00"))
-	f.Year = int16(hp.Year)
-	f.Path = filepath.Clean(path)
-	f.IsRead = true
-	f.timeframe = time.Duration(hp.Timeframe)
-	f.nElements = int32(hp.NElements)
-	f.recordLength = int32(hp.RecordLength)
-	f.recordType = EnumRecordType(hp.RecordType)
-	f.elementNames = nil
-	f.elementTypes = nil
-	for i := 0; i < int(f.nElements); i++ {
-		baseName := string(bytes.Trim(hp.ElementNames[i][:], "\x00"))
-		f.elementNames = append(f.elementNames, baseName)
-		f.elementTypes = append(f.elementTypes, EnumElementType(hp.ElementTypes[i]))
-	}
-}
-
-// NewTimeBucketInfoFromHeader creates a TimeBucketInfo from a given Header
-func NewTimeBucketInfoFromHeader(hp *Header, path string) *TimeBucketInfo {
-	tbi := new(TimeBucketInfo)
-	tbi.load(hp, path)
-	return tbi
+	return header, nil
 }
 
 // Header is the on-disk byte representation of the file header
@@ -354,7 +403,8 @@ func (hp *Header) Load(f *TimeBucketInfo) {
 	hp.RecordLength = int64(f.GetRecordLength())
 	hp.RecordType = int64(f.GetRecordType())
 	for i := 0; i < int(hp.NElements); i++ {
-		copy(hp.ElementNames[i][:], f.GetElementNames()[i])
+		copy(hp.ElementNames[i][:],
+			f.GetElementNames()[i])
 		hp.ElementTypes[i] = byte(f.GetElementTypes()[i])
 	}
 	hp.RecordType = int64(f.GetRecordType())