diff --git a/project.clj b/project.clj
index 2935463..2d10511 100644
--- a/project.clj
+++ b/project.clj
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
   :dependencies [[org.clojure/clojure "1.5.1"]
                  [hiccup "1.0.0"]
                  [zeus "0.1.0"]
+                 [iokv "0.1.1"]
                  [cheshire "5.3.1"]
                  [ring/ring-core "1.2.0"]
                  [com.taoensso/carmine "2.4.4"]
diff --git a/src/notehub/api.clj b/src/notehub/api.clj
index 50bdda9..a8b3be2 100644
--- a/src/notehub/api.clj
+++ b/src/notehub/api.clj
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   (:import
     [java.util Calendar])
   (:use
-    [notehub.settings]
+    [iokv.core]
     [ring.util.codec :only [url-encode]]
     [clojure.string :rename {replace sreplace}
      :only [replace blank? trim lower-case split-lines split]])
diff --git a/src/notehub/handler.clj b/src/notehub/handler.clj
index f48d40c..ab6904d 100644
--- a/src/notehub/handler.clj
+++ b/src/notehub/handler.clj
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 (ns notehub.handler
-  (:use compojure.core
-        [notehub.views]
-        [notehub.settings]
-        [clojure.string :rename {replace sreplace} :only [replace]]
-        [clojure.core.incubator :only [-?>]])
+  (:use 
+    compojure.core
+    iokv.core
+    notehub.views
+    [clojure.string :rename {replace sreplace} :only [replace]]
+    [clojure.core.incubator :only [-?>]])
   (:require 
     [hiccup.util :as util]
     [compojure.handler :as handler]
diff --git a/src/notehub/settings.clj b/src/notehub/settings.clj
deleted file mode 100644
index f669316..0000000
--- a/src/notehub/settings.clj
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
-(ns notehub.settings
-  (:use [clojure.string
-         :rename {replace sreplace}
-         :only [blank? trim split split-lines replace upper-case]]))
-
-; Loads and parses any file with each line consisting a key and
-; a value separated by a "=", and returns a corresponding key-value map.
-(defn- get-pairs-map [file]
-  (let [file-content (slurp file)
-        pairs (map #(map trim (split % #"=" 2))
-                   (remove blank? (split-lines file-content)))]
-    (apply hash-map
-           (mapcat #(list (keyword (first %)) (second %)) pairs))))
-
-; Loads the setting file to a map
-(def settings-map
-  (get-pairs-map "settings"))
-
-; Loads the messages file to a map
-(def messages-map
-  (get-pairs-map "messages"))
-
-(defn get-message [key]
-  "Returns messages used in layouts. Every key should be a keyword, e.g. (get-message :title)."
-  (messages-map key))
-
-(defn get-setting
-  "Takes a settings key, a converter function and a default value, and returns a corresponding
-  setting value. The default value is returned back when no setting value was found.
-  The converter function can be provided to convert the setting from string to a needed type.
-  This function is not applied to the specified default value!
-  Every specified key should be a keyword, e.g. (get-setting :page-width)."
-  [key & more]
-  (let [converter (first more)
-        default (second more)
-        value (settings-map key)
-        ; Through this hack we can read security-critical settings from (previously
-        ; set) shell variables without commiting their content to CVS
-        value (if value value
-                (System/getenv
-                 (upper-case
-                  (sreplace (name key) #"-" ""))))]
-    (if value
-      (if (fn? converter) (converter value) value)
-      default)))
diff --git a/src/notehub/storage.clj b/src/notehub/storage.clj
index 3dd1d97..82e81d4 100644
--- a/src/notehub/storage.clj
+++ b/src/notehub/storage.clj
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 (ns notehub.storage
-  (:use [notehub.settings]
+  (:use [iokv.core]
         [zeus.core]
         [clojure.string :only (blank? replace) :rename {replace sreplace}])
   (:require [taoensso.carmine :as car :refer (wcar)]))
diff --git a/src/notehub/views.clj b/src/notehub/views.clj
index c47e009..893f8c6 100644
--- a/src/notehub/views.clj
+++ b/src/notehub/views.clj
@@ -1,14 +1,17 @@
 (ns notehub.views
-  (:use [notehub.settings]
-        [clojure.string :rename {replace sreplace} :only [replace]]
-        [clojure.core.incubator :only [-?>]]
-        [hiccup.form]
-        [hiccup.core]
-        [hiccup.element]
-        [hiccup.util :only [escape-html]]
-        [hiccup.page :only [include-js html5]])
+  (:use 
+    iokv.core
+    [clojure.string :rename {replace sreplace} :only [replace]]
+    [clojure.core.incubator :only [-?>]]
+    [hiccup.form]
+    [hiccup.core]
+    [hiccup.element]
+    [hiccup.util :only [escape-html]]
+    [hiccup.page :only [include-js html5]])
   (:require [notehub.api :as api]))
 
+(def get-message (get-map "messages"))
+
 ; Creates the main html layout
 (defn layout
   [title & content]