diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e0d01c4..a048b5a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ CSI_DRIVER_IMAGE?=cyverse/irods-csi-driver
 CSI_DRIVER_DOCKERFILE=deploy/image/irods_csi_driver_image.dockerfile
 CSI_DRIVER_POOL_IMAGE?=cyverse/irods-csi-driver-pool
 CSI_DRIVER_POOL_DOCKERFILE=deploy/image/irods_csi_driver_pool_image.dockerfile
-VERSION=v0.9.8
+VERSION=v0.9.9
 GIT_COMMIT?=$(shell git rev-parse HEAD)
 BUILD_DATE?=$(shell date -u +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ")
 LDFLAGS?="-X ${PKG}/pkg/common.driverVersion=${VERSION} -X ${PKG}/pkg/common.gitCommit=${GIT_COMMIT} -X ${PKG}/pkg/common.buildDate=${BUILD_DATE}"
diff --git a/deploy/image/irods_csi_driver_image.dockerfile b/deploy/image/irods_csi_driver_image.dockerfile
index 07592ce..40f3b49 100644
--- a/deploy/image/irods_csi_driver_image.dockerfile
+++ b/deploy/image/irods_csi_driver_image.dockerfile
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ ARG CSI_DRIVER_SRC_DIR="/go/src/github.com/cyverse/irods-csi-driver"
 ARG IRODS_FUSE_DIR="/opt/irodsfs"
 ARG FUSE_NFS_DIR="/opt/fuse-nfs"
 ARG DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
-ARG IRODSFS_VER=v0.8.17
+ARG IRODSFS_VER=v0.8.18
 
 # Setup Utility Packages
 RUN apt-get update && \
diff --git a/deploy/image/irods_csi_driver_pool_image.dockerfile b/deploy/image/irods_csi_driver_pool_image.dockerfile
index 6712c0f..3b909d9 100644
--- a/deploy/image/irods_csi_driver_pool_image.dockerfile
+++ b/deploy/image/irods_csi_driver_pool_image.dockerfile
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ LABEL version="0.1"
 LABEL description="iRODS CSI Driver Pool Image"
 
 ARG DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
-ARG IRODSFS_POOL_VER=v0.6.17
+ARG IRODSFS_POOL_VER=v0.6.18
 
 # Setup Utility Packages
 RUN apt-get update && \
diff --git a/deploy/kubernetes/overlays/stable/kustomization.yaml b/deploy/kubernetes/overlays/stable/kustomization.yaml
index ad563d2..2fd00cf 100644
--- a/deploy/kubernetes/overlays/stable/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/deploy/kubernetes/overlays/stable/kustomization.yaml
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@ bases:
 - ../../base
 images:
 - name: cyverse/irods-csi-driver
-  newTag: v0.9.8
+  newTag: v0.9.9
 - name: cyverse/irods-csi-driver-pool
-  newTag: v0.9.8
+  newTag: v0.9.9
 - name: quay.io/k8scsi/csi-provisioner
   newTag: v1.6.0
 - name: quay.io/k8scsi/livenessprobe
diff --git a/helm/Chart.yaml b/helm/Chart.yaml
index cbbd7d7..5092f3d 100644
--- a/helm/Chart.yaml
+++ b/helm/Chart.yaml
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 apiVersion: v2
-appVersion: "0.9.8"
+appVersion: "0.9.9"
 name: irods-csi-driver
 description: A Helm chart for iRODS CSI Driver
-version: 0.9.8
+version: 0.9.9
 kubeVersion: ">=1.14.0-0"
 home: https://github.com/cyverse/irods-csi-driver
 sources:
diff --git a/helm/README.md b/helm/README.md
index f9265ca..0b76573 100644
--- a/helm/README.md
+++ b/helm/README.md
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ helm install irods-csi-driver -f user_values.yaml --namespace kube-system .
 ```shell script
 helm upgrade irods-csi-driver \
     --install . \
-    --version 0.9.8 \
+    --version 0.9.9 \
     --namespace kube-system \
     -f values.yaml
 ```
diff --git a/helm/values.yaml b/helm/values.yaml
index 496ad9e..9c6e4da 100644
--- a/helm/values.yaml
+++ b/helm/values.yaml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ controllerService:
   irodsPlugin:
     image:
       repository: cyverse/irods-csi-driver
-      tag: v0.9.8
+      tag: v0.9.9
       pullPolicy: Always
 
     extraArgs:
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ nodeService:
   irodsPlugin:
     image:
       repository: cyverse/irods-csi-driver
-      tag: v0.9.8
+      tag: v0.9.9
       pullPolicy: Always
 
     extraArgs:
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ nodeService:
   irodsPool:
     image:
       repository: cyverse/irods-csi-driver-pool
-      tag: v0.9.8
+      tag: v0.9.9
       pullPolicy: Always
 
     extraArgs:
diff --git a/test/db_test/duckdb_test.py b/test/db_test/duckdb_test.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..fdd1082
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/db_test/duckdb_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env python3
+
+import duckdb
+
+print("creating a DuckDB DB file - 'test_duckdb.db'")
+conn = duckdb.connect("test_duckdb.db")
+
+print("creating a table")
+conn.sql("CREATE TABLE movie(title VARCHAR, year INTEGER, score DOUBLE)")
+
+print("inserting records to the table")
+data = [
+    ("Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl", 1982, 7.9),
+    ("Monty Python The Meaning of Life", 1983, 7.5),
+    ("Monty Python Life of Brian", 1979, 8.0),
+]
+for d in data:
+    conn.execute("INSERT INTO movie VALUES('%s', %d, %f)" % d)
+
+print("retrieving records from the table")
+conn.execute("SELECT * FROM movie")
+for row in conn.fetchall():
+    print(row)
+
+print("done!")
diff --git a/test/db_test/sqlite_test.py b/test/db_test/sqlite_test.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..89dc57e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/db_test/sqlite_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env python3
+
+import sqlite3
+
+print("creating a SQLite DB file - 'test_sqlite.db'")
+conn = sqlite3.connect("test_sqlite.db")
+cur = conn.cursor()
+
+print("creating a table")
+cur.execute("CREATE TABLE movie(title, year, score)")
+
+print("inserting records to the table")
+data = [
+    ("Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl", 1982, 7.9),
+    ("Monty Python's The Meaning of Life", 1983, 7.5),
+    ("Monty Python's Life of Brian", 1979, 8.0),
+]
+cur.executemany("INSERT INTO movie VALUES(?, ?, ?)", data)
+conn.commit()
+
+print("retrieving records from the table")
+for row in cur.execute("SELECT year, title FROM movie ORDER BY year"):
+    print(row)
+
+print("done!")