diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 7d342cc4..36aade55 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,14 @@
+# ExcelReaders.jl v1.0.0 Release Notes
+* Drop the PyCall/xlrd backend: legacy xls files are now read natively via
+  LibXLS.jl and modern xlsx files via XLSX.jl, with the file format detected
+  from the content of the file
+* Restore support for modern xlsx files
+* Error cells are returned as `ExcelErrorCell` for both file formats
+* `readxlnames` and `readxlrange` work for xlsx files (they error for xls
+  files, where the underlying library does not expose defined names)
+* `close` releases the resources of an `ExcelFile`
+* Minimum supported Julia version is 1.10
+
 # ExcelReaders.jl v0.12.0 Release Notes
 * Drop julia 0.7 support
 * Migrate to Project.toml
diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index 667eaf49..c48700e1 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@ XLSX = "fdbf4ff8-1666-58a4-91e7-1b58723a45e0"
 [compat]
 DataValues = "0.4.4, 0.5, 1"
 Dates = "1"
-LibXLS = "0.1, 0.2, 1"
+LibXLS = "1.0.1"
 XLSX = "0.12"
-julia = "1.6"
+julia = "1.10"
 
 [extras]
 Test = "8dfed614-e22c-5e08-85e1-65c5234f0b40"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3d2c0400..8b6f00e0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -60,6 +60,35 @@ This will read all content on Sheet1 in the file Filename.xls. Eventual blank ro
 
 ``readxlsheet`` also accepts an ExcelFile (as obtained from ``openxl``) as its first argument.
 
+## Defined names
+
+For xlsx files, workbook-level defined names can be listed and read:
+
+````julia
+f = openxl("Filename.xlsx")
+
+readxlnames(f)             # all defined names
+readxlrange(f, "MyRange")  # content of the range a name refers to
+````
+
+Defined names are not available for legacy xls files, because the underlying
+C library does not expose them.
+
+## Closing a file
+
+``close(f)`` releases the resources of an ``ExcelFile`` obtained from
+``openxl`` (for xlsx files this is a no-op, for xls files it closes the
+underlying C library handle; files also close themselves when garbage
+collected).
+
+## Limitations
+
+* Reading only — for writing xlsx files use
+  [XLSX.jl](https://github.com/JuliaData/XLSX.jl) or
+  [ExcelFiles.jl](https://github.com/queryverse/ExcelFiles.jl).
+* Cell formulas are not exposed, only their cached results.
+* Reading from a byte buffer or ``IO`` is not supported, only from files.
+
 ## Alternatives
 
 [XLSX.jl](https://github.com/JuliaData/XLSX.jl) provides excellent, more
diff --git a/src/ExcelReaders.jl b/src/ExcelReaders.jl
index 22845c77..ae95c231 100644
--- a/src/ExcelReaders.jl
+++ b/src/ExcelReaders.jl
@@ -148,6 +148,21 @@ end
 
 isblank(v) = v isa DataValue && DataValues.isna(v)
 
+"""
+    readxlsheet(file, sheet; skipstartrows=:blanks, skipstartcols=:blanks, nrows=:all, ncols=:all)
+
+Read a whole sheet from an Excel file and return its content as a matrix.
+`file` is either a filename or an `ExcelFile` from [`openxl`](@ref); `sheet`
+is a sheet name or (1-based) index.
+
+Blank rows and columns at the top and left are skipped by default. The
+keyword arguments control the range that is read:
+
+- `skipstartrows`/`skipstartcols`: `:blanks` (default) skips empty initial
+  rows/columns; an integer skips exactly that many.
+- `nrows`/`ncols`: `:all` (default) reads everything after the skipped
+  rows/columns; an integer reads exactly that many.
+"""
 function readxlsheet(filename::AbstractString, sheetindex::Int; args...)
     file = openxl(filename)
     return readxlsheet(file, sheetindex; args...)
@@ -260,6 +275,14 @@ function convert_ref_to_sheet_row_col(range::AbstractString)
     return sheetname, startrow, startcol, endrow, endcol
 end
 
+"""
+    readxl(file, range)
+
+Read the given range from an Excel file and return its content as a matrix
+(or a single value for a single-cell range). `file` is either a filename or
+an `ExcelFile` from [`openxl`](@ref); `range` is a full Excel range
+specification such as `"Sheet1!A1:C4"`.
+"""
 function readxl(filename::AbstractString, range::AbstractString)
     excelfile = openxl(filename)
 
@@ -292,11 +315,25 @@ function readxl_internal(ws, startrow::Integer, startcol::Integer, endrow::Integ
     end
 end
 
+"""
+    readxlnames(f::ExcelFile)
+
+Return the workbook-level defined names in the Excel file, sorted
+alphabetically. Only supported for xlsx files; for legacy xls files an error
+is thrown, because the underlying C library does not expose defined names.
+"""
 function readxlnames(f::ExcelFile)
     f.workbook isa XLSX.XLSXFile || error("Defined names are not supported for legacy xls files.")
     return sort!(collect(keys(f.workbook.workbook.workbook_names)))
 end
 
+"""
+    readxlrange(f::ExcelFile, name)
+
+Read the range that the defined name `name` refers to and return its content
+(a matrix, or a single value for a single-cell name). Only supported for
+xlsx files; for legacy xls files an error is thrown.
+"""
 function readxlrange(f::ExcelFile, range::AbstractString)
     f.workbook isa XLSX.XLSXFile || error("Defined names are not supported for legacy xls files.")
     data = XLSX.getdata(f.workbook, range)
diff --git a/test/test_excelreaders.jl b/test/test_excelreaders.jl
index 115d3885..4ebfb00b 100644
--- a/test/test_excelreaders.jl
+++ b/test/test_excelreaders.jl
@@ -190,4 +190,47 @@ end
     for sheet in ["Second Sheet", 2]
         compare_cells(readxlsheet(xls, sheet), readxlsheet(xlsx, sheet))
     end
+
+    # the internal entry point ExcelFiles relies on
+    @test ExcelReaders.readxl_internal(xls, "Sheet1", 4, 3, 4, 3) == 1.0
+    @test ExcelReaders.readxl_internal(xlsx, "Sheet1", 4, 3, 4, 3) == 1.0
+
+    # close works for both backends (a no-op for xlsx)
+    close(xls)
+    close(xlsx)
+    @test_throws ErrorException readxl(xls, "Sheet1!C4")
+end
+
+@testitem "Defined names" begin
+    using Dates, DataValues
+    import ExcelReaders.XLSX
+
+    filename = joinpath(mktempdir(), "named.xlsx")
+    XLSX.openxlsx(filename, mode="w") do xf
+        sh = xf[1]
+        XLSX.rename!(sh, "Sheet1")
+        sh["B2"] = 1.0
+        sh["C2"] = 2.0
+        sh["B3"] = 3.0
+        sh["C3"] = 4.0
+        sh["E1"] = "hello"
+        XLSX.addDefinedName(xf, "block", "Sheet1!B2:C3")
+        XLSX.addDefinedName(xf, "single", "Sheet1!E1")
+    end
+
+    f = openxl(filename)
+    @test readxlnames(f) == ["block", "single"]
+
+    data = readxlrange(f, "block")
+    @test size(data) == (2, 2)
+    @test data[1, 1] == 1.0
+    @test data[2, 2] == 4.0
+
+    @test readxlrange(f, "single") == "hello"
+
+    # Defined names are not available for legacy xls files, because the
+    # underlying C library does not expose them.
+    xls = openxl(normpath(@__DIR__, "TestData.xls"))
+    @test_throws ErrorException readxlnames(xls)
+    @test_throws ErrorException readxlrange(xls, "block")
 end