diff --git a/gds/parser.py b/gds/parser.py
index 1c50232..44abf53 100644
--- a/gds/parser.py
+++ b/gds/parser.py
@@ -29,19 +29,16 @@ class ParserError(Exception):
     pass
 
 class Parser(Reader):
-    # parser stack
-    _token = None
-    progress_callback = None
-    
-    # parser state
-    Library = Library()
-    current_structure = None
-    
     def __init__(self, file, progress_callback=None):
         super(Parser, self).__init__(file)
-
+        
+        self._token = None
         self.progress_callback = progress_callback
-
+        
+        # parser state
+        self.Library = Library()
+        self.current_structure = None
+    
     @property
     def token(self):
         return self._token
diff --git a/gds/reader.py b/gds/reader.py
index ff7a538..4c37e98 100644
--- a/gds/reader.py
+++ b/gds/reader.py
@@ -99,7 +99,9 @@ class Reader(ProgressGetter):
         return 0
 
     def read_ascii(self, len):
-        return self.stream.read(len).decode("ASCII").strip()
+        # removes zero terminators
+        # as well as trailing and beginning whitespaces
+        return self.stream.read(len).decode("ASCII").replace("\x00", "").strip()
 
     def read_record(self):
         result = Record()