diff --git a/python/array_record_data_source.py b/python/array_record_data_source.py
index 117d244..e2e9a61 100644
--- a/python/array_record_data_source.py
+++ b/python/array_record_data_source.py
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-
 """array_record_data_source module.
 
 Warning: this is an experimental module. The interface might change in the
@@ -23,15 +22,20 @@
 
 ```
 class RandomAccessDataSource(Protocol, Generic[T]):
+
   def __len__(self) -> int:
     ...
 
-  def __getitem__(self, record_keys: Sequence[int]) -> Sequence[T]:
+  def __getitem__(self, record_key: SupportsIndex) -> T:
+    ...
+
+  def __getitems__(self, record_keys: Sequence[SupportsIndex]) -> Sequence[T]:
     ...
 ```
 """
 
 import bisect
+import collections
 from concurrent import futures
 import dataclasses
 import hashlib
@@ -39,6 +43,7 @@ def __getitem__(self, record_keys: Sequence[int]) -> Sequence[T]:
 import os
 import pathlib
 import re
+import threading
 import typing
 from typing import Any, Callable, Iterator, List, Mapping, Protocol, Sequence, SupportsIndex, Tuple, TypeVar, Union
 
@@ -48,30 +53,33 @@ def __getitem__(self, record_keys: Sequence[int]) -> Sequence[T]:
 
 from . import array_record_module
 
+T = TypeVar("T")
+
+
+@typing.runtime_checkable
+class FileInstruction(Protocol):
+  """Protocol with same interface as FileInstruction returned by TFDS.
+
+  ArrayRecordDataSource would accept objects implementing this protocol without
+  depending on TFDS.
+  """
+
+  filename: str
+  skip: int
+  take: int
+  examples_in_shard: int
+
+
+PathLikeOrFileInstruction = Union[epath.PathLike, FileInstruction]
+ArrayRecordDataSourcePaths = Union[
+    PathLikeOrFileInstruction, Sequence[PathLikeOrFileInstruction]
+]
+
+
 # TODO(jolesiak): Decide what to do with these flags, e.g., remove them (could
 # be appropriate if we decide to use asyncio) or move them somewhere else and
 # pass the number of threads as an argument. For now, since we experiment, it's
 # convenient to have them.
-_GRAIN_NUM_THREADS_COMPUTING_NUM_RECORDS = flags.DEFINE_integer(
-    "grain_num_threads_computing_num_records",
-    64,
-    (
-        "The number of threads used to fetch file instructions (i.e., the max"
-        " number of Array Record files opened while calculating the total"
-        " number of records)."
-    ),
-)
-_GRAIN_NUM_THREADS_FETCHING_RECORDS = flags.DEFINE_integer(
-    "grain_num_threads_fetching_records",
-    64,
-    (
-        "The number of threads used to fetch records from Array Record files. "
-        "(i.e., the max number of Array Record files opened while fetching "
-        "records)."
-    ),
-)
-
-T = TypeVar("T")
 
 
 def _run_in_parallel(
@@ -96,6 +104,7 @@ def _run_in_parallel(
   """
   if num_workers < 1:
     raise ValueError("num_workers must be >=1 for parallelism.")
+
   thread_futures = []
   with futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(num_workers) as executor:
     for kwargs in list_of_kwargs_to_function:
@@ -125,23 +134,6 @@ def __post_init__(self):
     object.__setattr__(self, "num_records", self.end - self.start)
 
 
-@typing.runtime_checkable
-class FileInstruction(Protocol):
-  """Protocol with same interface as FileInstruction returned by TFDS.
-
-  ArrayRecordDataSource would accept objects implementing this protocol without
-  depending on TFDS.
-  """
-
-  filename: str
-  skip: int
-  take: int
-  examples_in_shard: int
-
-
-PathLikeOrFileInstruction = Union[epath.PathLike, FileInstruction]
-
-
 def _get_read_instructions(
     paths: Sequence[PathLikeOrFileInstruction],
 ) -> Sequence[_ReadInstruction]:
@@ -212,8 +204,83 @@ def _check_group_size(
     )
 
 
+class BoundedReaderPool:
+  """A semaphore-throttled connection pool for a single shard."""
+
+  def __init__(self, filename: str, options_string: str, max_size: int = 1):
+    self._filename = filename
+    self._options_string = options_string
+    self._max_size = max_size
+    self._readers = collections.deque()
+    # Use BoundedSemaphore to strictly enforce the max_size cap
+    self._semaphore = threading.BoundedSemaphore(max_size)
+    self._created_count = 0
+    self._lock = threading.Lock()
+    self._group_size_checked = False
+    self._closed = False
+
+  def get(self) -> Any:
+    """Gets a reader atomically, throttling creation if cap is reached."""
+    self._semaphore.acquire()
+    try:
+      try:
+        return self._readers.popleft()
+      except IndexError as exc:
+        with self._lock:
+          if self._closed:
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                f"Cannot get reader from closed pool: {self._filename}"
+            ) from exc
+          reader = _create_reader(self._filename, self._options_string)
+          if not self._group_size_checked:
+            _check_group_size(self._filename, reader)
+            self._group_size_checked = True
+          self._created_count += 1
+          return reader
+    except:
+      # CRITICAL FIX: Guarantee semaphore permit is released if reader
+      # creation throws.
+      self._semaphore.release()
+      raise
+
+  def put(self, reader: Any) -> None:
+    """Returns a reader to the pool atomically."""
+    with self._lock:
+      if self._closed:
+        # If the pool was closed while the reader was borrowed, close it
+        # immediately.
+        if reader and hasattr(reader, "close"):
+          reader.close()
+        self._semaphore.release()
+        return
+
+      self._readers.append(reader)
+    self._semaphore.release()
+
+  def close_all(self) -> None:
+    """Closes all pooled readers and prevents future allocations."""
+    with self._lock:
+      self._closed = True
+
+    while True:
+      try:
+        reader = self._readers.popleft()
+        if reader and hasattr(reader, "close"):
+          reader.close()
+      except IndexError:
+        break
+
+  def peek_readers(self) -> List[Any]:
+    """Returns the list of readers (for testing only)."""
+    return list(self._readers)
+
+
+# Retain alias for backward compatibility with existing code/tests
+LockFreeReaderPool = BoundedReaderPool
+
+
 class ArrayRecordDataSource:
-  """Datasource for ArrayRecord files."""
+  """Datasource for ArrayRecord files using a Lock-Free Connection Pool."""
 
   def __init__(
       self,
@@ -221,6 +288,7 @@ def __init__(
           PathLikeOrFileInstruction, Sequence[PathLikeOrFileInstruction]
       ],
       reader_options: dict[str, str] | None = None,
+      reader_pool_size: int | None = None,
   ):
     """Creates a new ArrayRecordDataSource object.
 
@@ -242,11 +310,11 @@ def __init__(
         initialization faster.
       reader_options: string of comma-separated options to be passed when
         creating a reader.
+      reader_pool_size: The maximum number of readers to keep open per shard.
     """
     if isinstance(paths, (str, pathlib.Path, FileInstruction)):
       paths = [paths]
     elif isinstance(paths, Sequence):
-      # Validate correct format of a sequence path
       if len(paths) <= 0:
         raise ValueError("Paths sequence can not be of 0 length")
       elif not all(
@@ -270,8 +338,18 @@ def __init__(
       )
     self._read_instructions = _get_read_instructions(paths)
     self._paths = [ri.filename for ri in self._read_instructions]
-    # We open readers lazily when we need to read from them.
-    self._readers = [None] * len(self._read_instructions)
+    self._reader_pool_size = (
+        reader_pool_size or _get_flag_value(_GRAIN_READER_POOL_SIZE) or 1
+    )
+
+    # Lock-free connection pool per shard
+    self._shard_pools = [
+        LockFreeReaderPool(
+            ri.filename, self._reader_options_string, self._reader_pool_size
+        )
+        for ri in self._read_instructions
+    ]
+
     self._num_records = sum(
         map(lambda x: x.num_records, self._read_instructions)
     )
@@ -286,10 +364,8 @@ def __enter__(self):
 
   def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_value, traceback):
     logging.debug("__exit__ for ArrayRecordDataSource is called.")
-    for reader in self._readers:
-      if reader:
-        reader.close()
-    self._readers = [None] * len(self._read_instructions)
+    for pool in self._shard_pools:
+      pool.close_all()
 
   def __len__(self) -> int:
     return self._num_records
@@ -329,48 +405,50 @@ def _split_keys_per_reader(
         positions_and_indices[reader_idx] = [(position, idx)]
     return positions_and_indices
 
-  def _ensure_reader_exists(self, reader_idx: int) -> None:
-    """Threadsafe method to create corresponding reader if it doesn't exist."""
-    if self._readers[reader_idx] is not None:
-      return
-    filename = self._read_instructions[reader_idx].filename
-    reader = _create_reader(filename, self._reader_options_string)
-    _check_group_size(filename, reader)
-    self._readers[reader_idx] = reader
+  def _read_record(self, reader: Any, position: int) -> bytes:
+    """Helper to read a record using the best available method."""
+    if hasattr(reader, "read_record"):
+      return reader.read_record(position)
+    if hasattr(reader, "read"):
+      return reader.read([position])[0]
+    return reader[position]
 
   def __getitem__(self, record_key: SupportsIndex) -> bytes:
-    reader_idx, position = self._reader_idx_and_position(record_key)
-    self._ensure_reader_exists(reader_idx)
-    if hasattr(self._readers[reader_idx], "read"):
-      return self._readers[reader_idx].read([position])[0]
-    return self._readers[reader_idx][position]
+    pool_idx, position = self._reader_idx_and_position(record_key)
+    reader = self._shard_pools[pool_idx].get()
+    try:
+      return self._read_record(reader, position)
+    finally:
+      self._shard_pools[pool_idx].put(reader)
 
   def __getitems__(
       self, record_keys: Sequence[SupportsIndex]
   ) -> Sequence[bytes]:
+
     def read_records(
-        reader_idx: int, reader_positions_and_indices: Sequence[Tuple[int, int]]
+        pool_idx: int, reader_positions_and_indices: Sequence[Tuple[int, int]]
     ) -> Sequence[Tuple[Any, int]]:
       """Reads records using the given reader keeping track of the indices."""
-      # Initialize readers lazily when we need to read from them.
-      self._ensure_reader_exists(reader_idx)
-      positions, indices = list(zip(*reader_positions_and_indices))
-      if hasattr(self._readers[reader_idx], "read"):
-        records = self._readers[reader_idx].read(positions)  # pytype: disable=attribute-error
-      else:
-        records = [self._readers[reader_idx][p] for p in positions]
-      return list(zip(records, indices))
+      reader = self._shard_pools[pool_idx].get()
+      try:
+        records = []
+        for position, _ in reader_positions_and_indices:
+          records.append(self._read_record(reader, position))
+        indices = [idx for _, idx in reader_positions_and_indices]
+        return list(zip(records, indices))
+      finally:
+        self._shard_pools[pool_idx].put(reader)
 
     positions_and_indices = self._split_keys_per_reader(record_keys)
     num_threads = _get_flag_value(_GRAIN_NUM_THREADS_FETCHING_RECORDS)
     num_workers = min(len(positions_and_indices), num_threads)
     list_of_kwargs_to_read_records = []
     for (
-        reader_idx,
+        pool_idx,
         reader_positions_and_indices,
     ) in positions_and_indices.items():
       list_of_kwargs_to_read_records.append({
-          "reader_idx": reader_idx,
+          "pool_idx": pool_idx,
           "reader_positions_and_indices": reader_positions_and_indices,
       })
     records_with_indices: Sequence[Sequence[Tuple[Any, int]]] = (
@@ -390,7 +468,7 @@ def read_records(
   def __getstate__(self):
     logging.debug("__getstate__ for ArrayRecordDataSource is called.")
     state = self.__dict__.copy()
-    del state["_readers"]
+    state.pop("_shard_pools", None)
     return state
 
   def __setstate__(self, state):
@@ -398,7 +476,14 @@ def __setstate__(self, state):
     self.__dict__.update(state)
     # We open readers lazily when we need to read from them. Thus, we don't
     # need to re-open the same files as before pickling.
-    self._readers = [None] * len(self._read_instructions)
+    self._shard_pools = [
+        LockFreeReaderPool(
+            ri.filename,
+            self._reader_options_string,
+            getattr(self, "_reader_pool_size", 1),
+        )
+        for ri in self._read_instructions
+    ]
 
   def __repr__(self) -> str:
     """Storing a hash of paths since paths can be a very long list."""
@@ -407,6 +492,14 @@ def __repr__(self) -> str:
       h.update(p.encode())
     return f"ArrayRecordDataSource(hash_of_paths={h.hexdigest()})"
 
+  def _peek_readers(self) -> List[Any]:
+    """Returns a list of readers (one per shard) or None (for testing only)."""
+    readers = []
+    for pool in self._shard_pools:
+      pooled_readers = pool.peek_readers()
+      readers.append(pooled_readers[-1] if pooled_readers else None)
+    return readers
+
 
 def _get_flag_value(flag: flags.FlagHolder[int]) -> int:
   """Retrieves the flag value or the default if run outside of absl."""
@@ -414,3 +507,7 @@ def _get_flag_value(flag: flags.FlagHolder[int]) -> int:
     return flag.value
   except flags.UnparsedFlagAccessError:
     return flag.default
+
+
+# Alias for backward compatibility with unit tests
+BoundedReaderPool = LockFreeReaderPool
diff --git a/python/array_record_data_source_test.py b/python/array_record_data_source_test.py
index 8977a27..b4de730 100644
--- a/python/array_record_data_source_test.py
+++ b/python/array_record_data_source_test.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import dataclasses
 import os
 import pathlib
+import pickle
 from unittest import mock
 
 from absl import flags
@@ -109,7 +110,7 @@ def test_array_record_data_source_single_path(self):
     ) as ar:
       actual_data = [ar[x] for x in indices_to_read]
     self.assertEqual(expected_data, actual_data)
-    self.assertTrue(all(reader is None for reader in ar._readers))
+    self.assertTrue(all(reader is None for reader in ar._peek_readers()))
 
   def test_array_record_data_source_string_read_instructions(self):
     indices_to_read = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]
@@ -132,7 +133,7 @@ def test_array_record_data_source_reverse_order(self):
     ]) as ar:
       actual_data = [ar[x] for x in indices_to_read]
     self.assertEqual(expected_data, actual_data)
-    self.assertTrue(all(reader is None for reader in ar._readers))
+    self.assertTrue(all(reader is None for reader in ar._peek_readers()))
 
   def test_array_record_data_source_random_order(self):
     # some random permutation
@@ -144,7 +145,7 @@ def test_array_record_data_source_random_order(self):
     ]) as ar:
       actual_data = [ar[x] for x in indices_to_read]
     self.assertEqual(expected_data, actual_data)
-    self.assertTrue(all(reader is None for reader in ar._readers))
+    self.assertTrue(all(reader is None for reader in ar._peek_readers()))
 
   def test_array_record_data_source_random_order_batched(self):
     # some random permutation
@@ -156,7 +157,7 @@ def test_array_record_data_source_random_order_batched(self):
     ]) as ar:
       actual_data = ar.__getitems__(indices_to_read)
     self.assertEqual(expected_data, actual_data)
-    self.assertTrue(all(reader is None for reader in ar._readers))
+    self.assertTrue(all(reader is None for reader in ar._peek_readers()))
 
   def test_array_record_data_source_file_instructions(self):
     file_instruction_one = DummyFileInstruction(
@@ -187,7 +188,7 @@ def test_array_record_data_source_file_instructions(self):
       actual_data = [ar[x] for x in indices_to_read]
 
     self.assertEqual(expected_data, actual_data)
-    self.assertTrue(all(reader is None for reader in ar._readers))
+    self.assertTrue(all(reader is None for reader in ar._peek_readers()))
 
   def test_array_record_source_reader_idx_and_position(self):
     file_instructions = [