diff --git a/griptape/drivers/file_manager/base_file_manager_driver.py b/griptape/drivers/file_manager/base_file_manager_driver.py
index dce5388122..c7c79ce851 100644
--- a/griptape/drivers/file_manager/base_file_manager_driver.py
+++ b/griptape/drivers/file_manager/base_file_manager_driver.py
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
+from typing import Optional
 
-from attrs import Factory, define, field
+from attrs import define, field
 
-import griptape.loaders as loaders
-from griptape.artifacts import BaseArtifact, ErrorArtifact, InfoArtifact, ListArtifact, TextArtifact
+from griptape.artifacts import BlobArtifact, ErrorArtifact, InfoArtifact, TextArtifact
 
 
 @define
@@ -17,28 +17,7 @@ class BaseFileManagerDriver(ABC):
         loaders: Dictionary of file extension specific loaders to use for loading file contents into artifacts.
     """
 
-    default_loader: loaders.BaseLoader = field(default=Factory(lambda: loaders.BlobLoader()), kw_only=True)
-    loaders: dict[str, loaders.BaseLoader] = field(
-        default=Factory(
-            lambda: {
-                "pdf": loaders.PdfLoader(),
-                "csv": loaders.CsvLoader(),
-                "txt": loaders.TextLoader(),
-                "html": loaders.TextLoader(),
-                "json": loaders.TextLoader(),
-                "yaml": loaders.TextLoader(),
-                "xml": loaders.TextLoader(),
-                "png": loaders.ImageLoader(),
-                "jpg": loaders.ImageLoader(),
-                "jpeg": loaders.ImageLoader(),
-                "webp": loaders.ImageLoader(),
-                "gif": loaders.ImageLoader(),
-                "bmp": loaders.ImageLoader(),
-                "tiff": loaders.ImageLoader(),
-            },
-        ),
-        kw_only=True,
-    )
+    encoding: Optional[str] = field(default=None, kw_only=True)
 
     def list_files(self, path: str) -> TextArtifact | ErrorArtifact:
         entries = self.try_list_files(path)
@@ -47,27 +26,18 @@ def list_files(self, path: str) -> TextArtifact | ErrorArtifact:
     @abstractmethod
     def try_list_files(self, path: str) -> list[str]: ...
 
-    def load_file(self, path: str) -> BaseArtifact:
-        extension = path.split(".")[-1]
-        loader = self.loaders.get(extension) or self.default_loader
-        source = self.try_load_file(path)
-        result = loader.load(source)
-
-        if isinstance(result, BaseArtifact):
-            return result
+    def load_file(self, path: str) -> BlobArtifact:
+        if self.encoding is None:
+            return BlobArtifact(self.try_load_file(path))
         else:
-            return ListArtifact(result)
+            return BlobArtifact(self.try_load_file(path), encoding=self.encoding)
 
     @abstractmethod
     def try_load_file(self, path: str) -> bytes: ...
 
     def save_file(self, path: str, value: bytes | str) -> InfoArtifact:
-        extension = path.split(".")[-1]
-        loader = self.loaders.get(extension) or self.default_loader
-        encoding = None if loader is None else loader.encoding
-
         if isinstance(value, str):
-            value = value.encode() if encoding is None else value.encode(encoding=encoding)
+            value = value.encode() if self.encoding is None else value.encode(encoding=self.encoding)
         elif isinstance(value, (bytearray, memoryview)):
             raise ValueError(f"Unsupported type: {type(value)}")
 
diff --git a/griptape/drivers/file_manager/local_file_manager_driver.py b/griptape/drivers/file_manager/local_file_manager_driver.py
index a6f1f0726c..e366f57904 100644
--- a/griptape/drivers/file_manager/local_file_manager_driver.py
+++ b/griptape/drivers/file_manager/local_file_manager_driver.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import os
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Optional
 
 from attrs import Attribute, Factory, define, field
 
@@ -16,11 +17,11 @@ class LocalFileManagerDriver(BaseFileManagerDriver):
         workdir: The absolute working directory. List, load, and save operations will be performed relative to this directory.
     """
 
-    workdir: str = field(default=Factory(lambda: os.getcwd()), kw_only=True)
+    workdir: Optional[str] = field(default=Factory(lambda: os.getcwd()), kw_only=True)
 
     @workdir.validator  # pyright: ignore[reportAttributeAccessIssue]
     def validate_workdir(self, _: Attribute, workdir: str) -> None:
-        if not Path(workdir).is_absolute():
+        if self.workdir is not None and not Path(workdir).is_absolute():
             raise ValueError("Workdir must be an absolute path")
 
     def try_list_files(self, path: str) -> list[str]:
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ def try_save_file(self, path: str, value: bytes) -> None:
 
     def _full_path(self, path: str) -> str:
         path = path.lstrip("/")
-        full_path = os.path.join(self.workdir, path)
+        full_path = os.path.join(self.workdir, path) if self.workdir else path
         # Need to keep the trailing slash if it was there,
         # because it means the path is a directory.
         ended_with_slash = path.endswith("/")
diff --git a/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/base_web_scraper_driver.py b/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/base_web_scraper_driver.py
index ae39f8eacf..0c33f3713c 100644
--- a/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/base_web_scraper_driver.py
+++ b/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/base_web_scraper_driver.py
@@ -4,5 +4,13 @@
 
 
 class BaseWebScraperDriver(ABC):
+    def scrape_url(self, url: str) -> TextArtifact:
+        source = self.fetch_url(url)
+
+        return self.extract_page(source)
+
+    @abstractmethod
+    def fetch_url(self, url: str) -> str: ...
+
     @abstractmethod
-    def scrape_url(self, url: str) -> TextArtifact: ...
+    def extract_page(self, page: str) -> TextArtifact: ...
diff --git a/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/markdownify_web_scraper_driver.py b/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/markdownify_web_scraper_driver.py
index b54ff072f9..4eff4948b5 100644
--- a/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/markdownify_web_scraper_driver.py
+++ b/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/markdownify_web_scraper_driver.py
@@ -38,20 +38,8 @@ class MarkdownifyWebScraperDriver(BaseWebScraperDriver):
     exclude_ids: list[str] = field(default=Factory(list), kw_only=True)
     timeout: Optional[int] = field(default=None, kw_only=True)
 
-    def scrape_url(self, url: str) -> TextArtifact:
+    def fetch_url(self, url: str) -> str:
         sync_playwright = import_optional_dependency("playwright.sync_api").sync_playwright
-        bs4 = import_optional_dependency("bs4")
-        markdownify = import_optional_dependency("markdownify")
-
-        include_links = self.include_links
-
-        # Custom MarkdownConverter to optionally linked urls. If include_links is False only
-        # the text of the link is returned.
-        class OptionalLinksMarkdownConverter(markdownify.MarkdownConverter):
-            def convert_a(self, el: Any, text: str, convert_as_inline: Any) -> str:
-                if include_links:
-                    return super().convert_a(el, text, convert_as_inline)
-                return text
 
         with sync_playwright() as p, p.chromium.launch(headless=True) as browser:
             page = browser.new_page()
@@ -76,28 +64,43 @@ def skip_loading_images(route: Any) -> Any:
             if not content:
                 raise Exception("can't access URL")
 
-            soup = bs4.BeautifulSoup(content, "html.parser")
+            return content
+
+    def extract_page(self, page: str) -> TextArtifact:
+        bs4 = import_optional_dependency("bs4")
+        markdownify = import_optional_dependency("markdownify")
+        include_links = self.include_links
+
+        # Custom MarkdownConverter to optionally linked urls. If include_links is False only
+        # the text of the link is returned.
+        class OptionalLinksMarkdownConverter(markdownify.MarkdownConverter):
+            def convert_a(self, el: Any, text: str, convert_as_inline: Any) -> str:
+                if include_links:
+                    return super().convert_a(el, text, convert_as_inline)
+                return text
+
+        soup = bs4.BeautifulSoup(page, "html.parser")
 
-            # Remove unwanted elements
-            exclude_selector = ",".join(
-                self.exclude_tags + [f".{c}" for c in self.exclude_classes] + [f"#{i}" for i in self.exclude_ids],
-            )
-            if exclude_selector:
-                for s in soup.select(exclude_selector):
-                    s.extract()
+        # Remove unwanted elements
+        exclude_selector = ",".join(
+            self.exclude_tags + [f".{c}" for c in self.exclude_classes] + [f"#{i}" for i in self.exclude_ids],
+        )
+        if exclude_selector:
+            for s in soup.select(exclude_selector):
+                s.extract()
 
-            text = OptionalLinksMarkdownConverter().convert_soup(soup)
+        text = OptionalLinksMarkdownConverter().convert_soup(soup)
 
-            # Remove leading and trailing whitespace from the entire text
-            text = text.strip()
+        # Remove leading and trailing whitespace from the entire text
+        text = text.strip()
 
-            # Remove trailing whitespace from each line
-            text = re.sub(r"[ \t]+$", "", text, flags=re.MULTILINE)
+        # Remove trailing whitespace from each line
+        text = re.sub(r"[ \t]+$", "", text, flags=re.MULTILINE)
 
-            # Indent using 2 spaces instead of tabs
-            text = re.sub(r"(\n?\s*?)\t", r"\1  ", text)
+        # Indent using 2 spaces instead of tabs
+        text = re.sub(r"(\n?\s*?)\t", r"\1  ", text)
 
-            # Remove triple+ newlines (keep double newlines for paragraphs)
-            text = re.sub(r"\n\n+", "\n\n", text)
+        # Remove triple+ newlines (keep double newlines for paragraphs)
+        text = re.sub(r"\n\n+", "\n\n", text)
 
-            return TextArtifact(text)
+        return TextArtifact(text)
diff --git a/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/proxy_web_scraper_driver.py b/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/proxy_web_scraper_driver.py
index 2d785fde26..94b3914eae 100644
--- a/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/proxy_web_scraper_driver.py
+++ b/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/proxy_web_scraper_driver.py
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ class ProxyWebScraperDriver(BaseWebScraperDriver):
     proxies: dict = field(kw_only=True, metadata={"serializable": False})
     params: dict = field(default=Factory(dict), kw_only=True, metadata={"serializable": True})
 
-    def scrape_url(self, url: str) -> TextArtifact:
+    def fetch_url(self, url: str) -> str:
         response = requests.get(url, proxies=self.proxies, **self.params)
-        return TextArtifact(response.text)
+
+        return response.text
+
+    def extract_page(self, page: str) -> TextArtifact:
+        return TextArtifact(page)
diff --git a/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/trafilatura_web_scraper_driver.py b/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/trafilatura_web_scraper_driver.py
index 06f5573a4a..e87af8af63 100644
--- a/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/trafilatura_web_scraper_driver.py
+++ b/griptape/drivers/web_scraper/trafilatura_web_scraper_driver.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 class TrafilaturaWebScraperDriver(BaseWebScraperDriver):
     include_links: bool = field(default=True, kw_only=True)
 
-    def scrape_url(self, url: str) -> TextArtifact:
+    def fetch_url(self, url: str) -> str:
         trafilatura = import_optional_dependency("trafilatura")
         use_config = trafilatura.settings.use_config
 
@@ -29,6 +29,15 @@ def scrape_url(self, url: str) -> TextArtifact:
 
         if page is None:
             raise Exception("can't access URL")
+
+        return page
+
+    def extract_page(self, page: str) -> TextArtifact:
+        trafilatura = import_optional_dependency("trafilatura")
+        use_config = trafilatura.settings.use_config
+
+        config = use_config()
+
         extracted_page = trafilatura.extract(
             page,
             include_links=self.include_links,
diff --git a/griptape/loaders/audio_loader.py b/griptape/loaders/audio_loader.py
index befdca034b..a23ce7cc75 100644
--- a/griptape/loaders/audio_loader.py
+++ b/griptape/loaders/audio_loader.py
@@ -3,15 +3,15 @@
 from attrs import define
 
 from griptape.artifacts import AudioArtifact
-from griptape.loaders import BaseLoader
+from griptape.loaders.base_file_loader import BaseFileLoader
 from griptape.utils import import_optional_dependency
 
 
 @define
-class AudioLoader(BaseLoader):
+class AudioLoader(BaseFileLoader):
     """Loads audio content into audio artifacts."""
 
-    def load(self, source: bytes, *args, **kwargs) -> AudioArtifact:
+    def parse(self, source: bytes, *args, **kwargs) -> AudioArtifact:
         filetype = import_optional_dependency("filetype")
 
         return AudioArtifact(source, format=filetype.guess(source).extension)
diff --git a/griptape/loaders/base_file_loader.py b/griptape/loaders/base_file_loader.py
index a02d0b5810..b6f2e14c3b 100644
--- a/griptape/loaders/base_file_loader.py
+++ b/griptape/loaders/base_file_loader.py
@@ -1,24 +1,24 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from abc import ABC
-from io import BytesIO
-from os import PathLike
-from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Optional
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
-from attrs import define, field
+from attrs import Factory, define, field
 
+from griptape.drivers import BaseFileManagerDriver, LocalFileManagerDriver
 from griptape.loaders import BaseLoader
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from os import PathLike
+
 
 @define
 class BaseFileLoader(BaseLoader, ABC):
-    encoding: Optional[str] = field(default=None, kw_only=True)
-
-    def fetch(self, source: str | BytesIO | PathLike, *args, **kwargs) -> bytes:
-        if isinstance(source, (str, PathLike)):
-            content = Path(source).read_bytes()
-        elif isinstance(source, BytesIO):
-            content = source.read()
+    file_manager_driver: BaseFileManagerDriver = field(
+        default=Factory(lambda: LocalFileManagerDriver(workdir=None)),
+        kw_only=True,
+    )
+    encoding: str = field(default="utf-8", kw_only=True)
 
-        return content
+    def fetch(self, source: str | PathLike, *args, **kwargs) -> bytes:
+        return self.file_manager_driver.load_file(str(source), *args, **kwargs)
diff --git a/griptape/loaders/base_loader.py b/griptape/loaders/base_loader.py
index e4918d8d42..7c16c8ded7 100644
--- a/griptape/loaders/base_loader.py
+++ b/griptape/loaders/base_loader.py
@@ -26,10 +26,10 @@ def load(self, source: Any, *args, **kwargs) -> BaseArtifact:
         return self.parse(data)
 
     @abstractmethod
-    def fetch(self, source: Any, *args, **kwargs) -> bytes: ...
+    def fetch(self, source: Any, *args, **kwargs) -> Any: ...
 
     @abstractmethod
-    def parse(self, source: bytes, *args, **kwargs) -> BaseArtifact: ...
+    def parse(self, source: Any, *args, **kwargs) -> BaseArtifact: ...
 
     def load_collection(
         self,
diff --git a/griptape/loaders/csv_loader.py b/griptape/loaders/csv_loader.py
index 8dd124775e..029e47ac81 100644
--- a/griptape/loaders/csv_loader.py
+++ b/griptape/loaders/csv_loader.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import csv
+from io import StringIO
 
 from attrs import define, field
 
@@ -14,6 +15,6 @@ class CsvLoader(TextLoader):
     encoding: str = field(default="utf-8", kw_only=True)
 
     def parse(self, source: bytes, *args, **kwargs) -> TableArtifact:
-        reader = csv.DictReader(source.decode(self.encoding), delimiter=self.delimiter)
+        reader = csv.DictReader(StringIO(source.decode(self.encoding)), delimiter=self.delimiter)
 
         return TableArtifact(list(reader), delimiter=self.delimiter, fieldnames=reader.fieldnames)
diff --git a/griptape/loaders/email_loader.py b/griptape/loaders/email_loader.py
index 771230516b..d1c35b9fbd 100644
--- a/griptape/loaders/email_loader.py
+++ b/griptape/loaders/email_loader.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class EmailQuery:
     username: str = field(kw_only=True)
     password: str = field(kw_only=True)
 
-    def fetch(self, source: EmailQuery, *args, **kwargs) -> bytes:
+    def fetch(self, source: EmailQuery, *args, **kwargs) -> list[bytes]:
         label, key, search_criteria, max_count = astuple(source)
 
         mail_bytes = []
@@ -62,9 +62,9 @@ def fetch(self, source: EmailQuery, *args, **kwargs) -> bytes:
 
             client.close()
 
-        return bytes(mail_bytes)
+        return mail_bytes
 
-    def parse(self, source: bytes, *args, **kwargs) -> ListArtifact:
+    def parse(self, source: list[bytes], *args, **kwargs) -> ListArtifact:
         mailparser = import_optional_dependency("mailparser")
         artifacts = []
         for byte in source:
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ def parse(self, source: bytes, *args, **kwargs) -> ListArtifact:
             # Note: mailparser only populates the text_plain field
             # if the message content type is explicitly set to 'text/plain'.
             if message.text_plain:
-                artifacts.append(TextArtifact(message.text_plain))
+                artifacts.append(TextArtifact("\n".join(message.text_plain)))
 
         return ListArtifact(artifacts)
 
diff --git a/griptape/loaders/file_loader.py b/griptape/loaders/file_loader.py
deleted file mode 100644
index e87865edc6..0000000000
--- a/griptape/loaders/file_loader.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
-from __future__ import annotations
-
-from abc import abstractmethod
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Optional
-
-from attrs import field
-
-from griptape.loaders.base_loader import BaseLoader
-from griptape.utils.futures import execute_futures_dict
-from griptape.utils.hash import bytes_to_hash, str_to_hash
-
-if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from collections.abc import Mapping
-
-    from griptape.artifacts import BaseArtifact
-
-
-class FileLoader(BaseLoader):
-    encoding: Optional[str] = field(default=None, kw_only=True)
-
-    @abstractmethod
-    def load(self, source: Any, *args, **kwargs) -> BaseArtifact: ...
-
-    def load_collection(
-        self,
-        sources: list[Any],
-        *args,
-        **kwargs,
-    ) -> Mapping[str, BaseArtifact]:
-        # Create a dictionary before actually submitting the jobs to the executor
-        # to avoid duplicate work.
-        sources_by_key = {self.to_key(source): source for source in sources}
-
-        return execute_futures_dict(
-            {
-                key: self.futures_executor.submit(self.load, source, *args, **kwargs)
-                for key, source in sources_by_key.items()
-            },
-        )
-
-    def to_key(self, source: Any) -> str:
-        if isinstance(source, bytes):
-            return bytes_to_hash(source)
-        else:
-            return str_to_hash(str(source))
diff --git a/griptape/loaders/image_loader.py b/griptape/loaders/image_loader.py
index dab7fd50ef..e9f5a8f52c 100644
--- a/griptape/loaders/image_loader.py
+++ b/griptape/loaders/image_loader.py
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@
 from attrs import define, field
 
 from griptape.artifacts import ImageArtifact
-from griptape.loaders import BaseLoader
+from griptape.loaders import BaseFileLoader
 from griptape.utils import import_optional_dependency
 
 
 @define
-class ImageLoader(BaseLoader):
+class ImageLoader(BaseFileLoader):
     """Loads images into image artifacts.
 
     Attributes:
diff --git a/griptape/loaders/pdf_loader.py b/griptape/loaders/pdf_loader.py
index 4c27d010ed..a9bb366048 100644
--- a/griptape/loaders/pdf_loader.py
+++ b/griptape/loaders/pdf_loader.py
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@
 from attrs import define
 
 from griptape.artifacts import ListArtifact, TextArtifact
-from griptape.loaders import BaseLoader
+from griptape.loaders.base_file_loader import BaseFileLoader
 from griptape.utils import import_optional_dependency
 
 
 @define
-class PdfLoader(BaseLoader):
+class PdfLoader(BaseFileLoader):
     def parse(
         self,
         source: bytes,
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ def parse(
         **kwargs,
     ) -> ListArtifact:
         pypdf = import_optional_dependency("pypdf")
-
         reader = pypdf.PdfReader(BytesIO(source), strict=True, password=password)
         pages = [TextArtifact(p.extract_text()) for p in reader.pages]
 
diff --git a/griptape/loaders/sql_loader.py b/griptape/loaders/sql_loader.py
index 0f907b152b..5a4c95180b 100644
--- a/griptape/loaders/sql_loader.py
+++ b/griptape/loaders/sql_loader.py
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@
 class SqlLoader(BaseLoader):
     sql_driver: BaseSqlDriver = field(kw_only=True)
 
-    def load(self, source: str, *args, **kwargs) -> TableArtifact:
-        rows = self.sql_driver.execute_query(source)
-        artifact = TableArtifact([row.cells for row in rows] if rows else [])
+    def fetch(self, source: str, *args, **kwargs) -> list[BaseSqlDriver.RowResult]:
+        return self.sql_driver.execute_query(source) or []
 
-        return artifact
+    def parse(self, source: list[BaseSqlDriver.RowResult], *args, **kwargs) -> TableArtifact:
+        return TableArtifact([row.cells for row in source])
diff --git a/griptape/loaders/web_loader.py b/griptape/loaders/web_loader.py
index f97c23dcba..4d31a81e42 100644
--- a/griptape/loaders/web_loader.py
+++ b/griptape/loaders/web_loader.py
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
 from attrs import Factory, define, field
 
-from griptape.artifacts import TextArtifact
 from griptape.drivers import BaseWebScraperDriver, TrafilaturaWebScraperDriver
 from griptape.loaders import BaseLoader
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from griptape.artifacts import TextArtifact
+
 
 @define
 class WebLoader(BaseLoader):
@@ -14,8 +18,8 @@ class WebLoader(BaseLoader):
         kw_only=True,
     )
 
-    def fetch(self, source: str, *args, **kwargs) -> bytes:
-        return self.web_scraper_driver.scrape_url(source).value.encode()
+    def fetch(self, source: str, *args, **kwargs) -> str:
+        return self.web_scraper_driver.fetch_url(source)
 
-    def parse(self, source: bytes, *args, **kwargs) -> TextArtifact:
-        return TextArtifact(source.decode())
+    def parse(self, source: str, *args, **kwargs) -> TextArtifact:
+        return self.web_scraper_driver.extract_page(source)
diff --git a/griptape/utils/file_utils.py b/griptape/utils/file_utils.py
index 19c9f699ce..9059686ed1 100644
--- a/griptape/utils/file_utils.py
+++ b/griptape/utils/file_utils.py
@@ -5,9 +5,10 @@
 from typing import Optional
 
 import griptape.utils as utils
+from tests.unit.loaders.conftest import BytesIO
 
 
-def load_file(path: str) -> bytes:
+def load_file(path: str) -> BytesIO:
     """Load a file from the given path and return its content as bytes.
 
     Args:
@@ -16,10 +17,10 @@ def load_file(path: str) -> bytes:
     Returns:
         The content of the file.
     """
-    return Path(path).read_bytes()
+    return BytesIO(Path(path).read_bytes())
 
 
-def load_files(paths: list[str], futures_executor: Optional[futures.ThreadPoolExecutor] = None) -> dict[str, bytes]:
+def load_files(paths: list[str], futures_executor: Optional[futures.ThreadPoolExecutor] = None) -> dict[str, BytesIO]:
     """Load multiple files concurrently and return a dictionary of their content.
 
     Args:
diff --git a/tests/unit/drivers/file_manager/test_amazon_s3_file_manager_driver.py b/tests/unit/drivers/file_manager/test_amazon_s3_file_manager_driver.py
index 84ce617685..8ca343daee 100644
--- a/tests/unit/drivers/file_manager/test_amazon_s3_file_manager_driver.py
+++ b/tests/unit/drivers/file_manager/test_amazon_s3_file_manager_driver.py
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 from moto import mock_s3
 
 from griptape.artifacts import InfoArtifact, ListArtifact, TextArtifact
+from griptape.artifacts.blob_artifact import BlobArtifact
 from griptape.drivers import AmazonS3FileManagerDriver
-from griptape.loaders import TextLoader
 from tests.utils.aws import mock_aws_credentials
 
 
@@ -154,8 +154,7 @@ def test_list_files_failure(self, workdir, path, expected, driver):
     def test_load_file(self, driver):
         artifact = driver.load_file("resources/bitcoin.pdf")
 
-        assert isinstance(artifact, ListArtifact)
-        assert len(artifact.value) == 4
+        assert isinstance(artifact, BlobArtifact)
 
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         ("workdir", "path", "expected"),
@@ -185,9 +184,8 @@ def test_load_file_failure(self, workdir, path, expected, driver):
     def test_load_file_with_encoding(self, driver):
         artifact = driver.load_file("resources/test.txt")
 
-        assert isinstance(artifact, ListArtifact)
-        assert len(artifact.value) == 1
-        assert isinstance(artifact.value[0], TextArtifact)
+        assert isinstance(artifact, BlobArtifact)
+        assert artifact.encoding == "utf-8"
 
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         ("workdir", "path", "content"),
@@ -240,9 +238,7 @@ def test_save_file_failure(self, workdir, path, expected, temp_dir, driver, s3_c
 
     def test_save_file_with_encoding(self, session, bucket, get_s3_value):
         workdir = "/sub-folder"
-        driver = AmazonS3FileManagerDriver(
-            session=session, bucket=bucket, default_loader=TextLoader(encoding="utf-8"), loaders={}, workdir=workdir
-        )
+        driver = AmazonS3FileManagerDriver(session=session, bucket=bucket, workdir=workdir)
         path = "test/foobar.txt"
 
         result = driver.save_file(path, "foobar")
@@ -253,9 +249,7 @@ def test_save_file_with_encoding(self, session, bucket, get_s3_value):
 
     def test_save_and_load_file_with_encoding(self, session, bucket, get_s3_value):
         workdir = "/sub-folder"
-        driver = AmazonS3FileManagerDriver(
-            session=session, bucket=bucket, loaders={"txt": TextLoader(encoding="ascii")}, workdir=workdir
-        )
+        driver = AmazonS3FileManagerDriver(session=session, bucket=bucket, encoding="ascii", workdir=workdir)
         path = "test/foobar.txt"
 
         result = driver.save_file(path, "foobar")
@@ -264,13 +258,10 @@ def test_save_and_load_file_with_encoding(self, session, bucket, get_s3_value):
         assert get_s3_value(expected_s3_key) == "foobar"
         assert result.value == "Successfully saved file"
 
-        driver = AmazonS3FileManagerDriver(
-            session=session, bucket=bucket, default_loader=TextLoader(encoding="ascii"), loaders={}, workdir=workdir
-        )
+        driver = AmazonS3FileManagerDriver(session=session, bucket=bucket, encoding="ascii", workdir=workdir)
         path = "test/foobar.txt"
 
         result = driver.load_file(path)
 
-        assert isinstance(result, ListArtifact)
-        assert len(result.value) == 1
-        assert isinstance(result.value[0], TextArtifact)
+        assert isinstance(result, BlobArtifact)
+        assert result.encoding == "ascii"
diff --git a/tests/unit/drivers/file_manager/test_local_file_manager_driver.py b/tests/unit/drivers/file_manager/test_local_file_manager_driver.py
index 394a838a3f..e08e412703 100644
--- a/tests/unit/drivers/file_manager/test_local_file_manager_driver.py
+++ b/tests/unit/drivers/file_manager/test_local_file_manager_driver.py
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@
 
 import pytest
 
-from griptape.artifacts import InfoArtifact, ListArtifact, TextArtifact
+from griptape.artifacts import InfoArtifact, TextArtifact
+from griptape.artifacts.blob_artifact import BlobArtifact
 from griptape.drivers import LocalFileManagerDriver
-from griptape.loaders.text_loader import TextLoader
 
 
 class TestLocalFileManagerDriver:
@@ -127,8 +127,7 @@ def test_list_files_failure(self, workdir, path, expected, temp_dir, driver):
     def test_load_file(self, driver: LocalFileManagerDriver):
         artifact = driver.load_file("resources/bitcoin.pdf")
 
-        assert isinstance(artifact, ListArtifact)
-        assert len(artifact.value) == 4
+        assert isinstance(artifact, BlobArtifact)
 
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         ("workdir", "path", "expected"),
@@ -156,23 +155,6 @@ def test_load_file_failure(self, workdir, path, expected, temp_dir, driver):
         with pytest.raises(expected):
             driver.load_file(path)
 
-    def test_load_file_with_encoding(self, driver: LocalFileManagerDriver):
-        artifact = driver.load_file("resources/test.txt")
-
-        assert isinstance(artifact, ListArtifact)
-        assert len(artifact.value) == 1
-        assert isinstance(artifact.value[0], TextArtifact)
-
-    def test_load_file_with_encoding_failure(self, driver):
-        driver = LocalFileManagerDriver(
-            default_loader=TextLoader(encoding="utf-8"),
-            loaders={},
-            workdir=os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__) + "../../../../")),
-        )
-
-        with pytest.raises(UnicodeDecodeError):
-            driver.load_file("resources/bitcoin.pdf")
-
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         ("workdir", "path", "content"),
         [
@@ -224,25 +206,24 @@ def test_save_file_failure(self, workdir, path, expected, temp_dir, driver):
             driver.save_file(path, "foobar")
 
     def test_save_file_with_encoding(self, temp_dir):
-        driver = LocalFileManagerDriver(default_loader=TextLoader(encoding="utf-8"), loaders={}, workdir=temp_dir)
+        driver = LocalFileManagerDriver(encoding="utf-8", workdir=temp_dir)
         result = driver.save_file(os.path.join("test", "foobar.txt"), "foobar")
 
         assert Path(os.path.join(temp_dir, "test", "foobar.txt")).read_text() == "foobar"
         assert result.value == "Successfully saved file"
 
     def test_save_and_load_file_with_encoding(self, temp_dir):
-        driver = LocalFileManagerDriver(loaders={"txt": TextLoader(encoding="ascii")}, workdir=temp_dir)
+        driver = LocalFileManagerDriver(encoding="ascii", workdir=temp_dir)
         result = driver.save_file(os.path.join("test", "foobar.txt"), "foobar")
 
         assert Path(os.path.join(temp_dir, "test", "foobar.txt")).read_text() == "foobar"
         assert result.value == "Successfully saved file"
 
-        driver = LocalFileManagerDriver(default_loader=TextLoader(encoding="ascii"), loaders={}, workdir=temp_dir)
+        driver = LocalFileManagerDriver(encoding="ascii", workdir=temp_dir)
         result = driver.load_file(os.path.join("test", "foobar.txt"))
 
-        assert isinstance(result, ListArtifact)
-        assert len(result.value) == 1
-        assert isinstance(result.value[0], TextArtifact)
+        assert isinstance(result, BlobArtifact)
+        assert result.encoding == "ascii"
 
     def _to_driver_workdir(self, temp_dir, workdir):
         # Treat the workdir as an absolute path, but modify it to be relative to the temp_dir.
diff --git a/tests/unit/loaders/conftest.py b/tests/unit/loaders/conftest.py
index 1f698738ab..0bbf839b8a 100644
--- a/tests/unit/loaders/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/unit/loaders/conftest.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import os
+from io import BytesIO, StringIO
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
@@ -14,15 +15,15 @@ def create_source(resource_path: str) -> Path:
 
 @pytest.fixture()
 def bytes_from_resource_path(path_from_resource_path):
-    def create_source(resource_path: str) -> bytes:
-        return Path(path_from_resource_path(resource_path)).read_bytes()
+    def create_source(resource_path: str) -> BytesIO:
+        return BytesIO(Path(path_from_resource_path(resource_path)).read_bytes())
 
     return create_source
 
 
 @pytest.fixture()
 def str_from_resource_path(path_from_resource_path):
-    def test_csv_str(resource_path: str) -> str:
-        return Path(path_from_resource_path(resource_path)).read_text()
+    def test_csv_str(resource_path: str) -> StringIO:
+        return StringIO(Path(path_from_resource_path(resource_path)).read_text())
 
     return test_csv_str
diff --git a/tests/unit/loaders/test_audio_loader.py b/tests/unit/loaders/test_audio_loader.py
index c6e22739b4..7b35167222 100644
--- a/tests/unit/loaders/test_audio_loader.py
+++ b/tests/unit/loaders/test_audio_loader.py
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@ class TestAudioLoader:
     def loader(self):
         return AudioLoader()
 
-    @pytest.fixture()
-    def create_source(self, bytes_from_resource_path):
-        return bytes_from_resource_path
+    @pytest.fixture(params=["path_from_resource_path"])
+    def create_source(self, request):
+        return request.getfixturevalue(request.param)
 
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(("resource_path", "mime_type"), [("sentences.wav", "audio/wav")])
     def test_load(self, resource_path, mime_type, loader, create_source):
diff --git a/tests/unit/loaders/test_blob_loader.py b/tests/unit/loaders/test_blob_loader.py
index 4812e669c8..2042381bc4 100644
--- a/tests/unit/loaders/test_blob_loader.py
+++ b/tests/unit/loaders/test_blob_loader.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ def loader(self, request):
         kwargs = {"encoding": encoding} if encoding is not None else {}
         return BlobLoader(**kwargs)
 
-    @pytest.fixture(params=["bytes_from_resource_path", "str_from_resource_path"])
+    @pytest.fixture(params=["path_from_resource_path"])
     def create_source(self, request):
         return request.getfixturevalue(request.param)
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/loaders/test_csv_loader.py b/tests/unit/loaders/test_csv_loader.py
index a63322290f..d92c8aef62 100644
--- a/tests/unit/loaders/test_csv_loader.py
+++ b/tests/unit/loaders/test_csv_loader.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import pytest
 
 from griptape.loaders.csv_loader import CsvLoader
-from tests.mocks.mock_embedding_driver import MockEmbeddingDriver
 
 
 class TestCsvLoader:
@@ -9,15 +8,15 @@ class TestCsvLoader:
     def loader(self, request):
         encoding = request.param
         if encoding is None:
-            return CsvLoader(embedding_driver=MockEmbeddingDriver())
+            return CsvLoader()
         else:
-            return CsvLoader(encoding=encoding, embedding_driver=MockEmbeddingDriver())
+            return CsvLoader(encoding=encoding)
 
     @pytest.fixture()
     def loader_with_pipe_delimiter(self):
-        return CsvLoader(delimiter="|", embedding_driver=MockEmbeddingDriver())
+        return CsvLoader(delimiter="|")
 
-    @pytest.fixture(params=["bytes_from_resource_path", "str_from_resource_path"])
+    @pytest.fixture(params=["path_from_resource_path"])
     def create_source(self, request):
         return request.getfixturevalue(request.param)
 
@@ -30,7 +29,6 @@ def test_load(self, loader, create_source):
         first_artifact = artifact.value[0]
         assert first_artifact["Foo"] == "foo1"
         assert first_artifact["Bar"] == "bar1"
-        assert artifact.embedding == [0, 1]
 
     def test_load_delimiter(self, loader_with_pipe_delimiter, create_source):
         source = create_source("test-pipe.csv")
@@ -41,7 +39,6 @@ def test_load_delimiter(self, loader_with_pipe_delimiter, create_source):
         first_artifact = artifact.value[0]
         assert first_artifact["Foo"] == "bar1"
         assert first_artifact["Bar"] == "foo1"
-        assert artifact.embedding == [0, 1]
 
     def test_load_collection(self, loader, create_source):
         resource_paths = ["test-1.csv", "test-2.csv"]
@@ -58,7 +55,6 @@ def test_load_collection(self, loader, create_source):
             first_artifact = artifact.value[0]
             assert first_artifact["Foo"] == "foo1"
             assert first_artifact["Bar"] == "bar1"
-            assert artifact.embedding == [0, 1]
 
     def test_to_text(self, loader, create_source):
         source = create_source("test-1.csv")
diff --git a/tests/unit/loaders/test_dataframe_loader.py b/tests/unit/loaders/test_dataframe_loader.py
deleted file mode 100644
index fa9a540844..0000000000
--- a/tests/unit/loaders/test_dataframe_loader.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,52 +0,0 @@
-import os
-
-import pandas as pd
-import pytest
-
-from griptape.loaders.dataframe_loader import DataFrameLoader
-from tests.mocks.mock_embedding_driver import MockEmbeddingDriver
-
-
-class TestDataFrameLoader:
-    @pytest.fixture()
-    def loader(self):
-        return DataFrameLoader(embedding_driver=MockEmbeddingDriver())
-
-    def test_load_with_path(self, loader):
-        # test loading a file delimited by comma
-        path = os.path.join(os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)), "../../resources/test-1.csv")
-
-        artifact = loader.load(pd.read_csv(path))
-
-        assert len(artifact) == 10
-        first_artifact = artifact.value[0]
-        assert first_artifact["Foo"] == "foo1"
-        assert first_artifact["Bar"] == "bar1"
-
-        assert artifact.embedding == [0, 1]
-
-    def test_load_collection_with_path(self, loader):
-        path1 = os.path.join(os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)), "../../resources/test-1.csv")
-        path2 = os.path.join(os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)), "../../resources/test-2.csv")
-        df1 = pd.read_csv(path1)
-        df2 = pd.read_csv(path2)
-        collection = loader.load_collection([df1, df2])
-
-        key1 = loader.to_key(df1)
-        key2 = loader.to_key(df2)
-
-        assert list(collection.keys()) == [key1, key2]
-
-        artifact = collection[key1]
-        assert len(artifact) == 10
-        first_artifact = artifact.value[0]
-        assert first_artifact["Foo"] == "foo1"
-        assert first_artifact["Bar"] == "bar1"
-
-        artifact = collection[key2]
-        assert len(artifact) == 10
-        first_artifact = artifact.value[0]
-        assert first_artifact["Bar"] == "bar1"
-        assert first_artifact["Foo"] == "foo1"
-
-        assert artifact.embedding == [0, 1]
diff --git a/tests/unit/loaders/test_image_loader.py b/tests/unit/loaders/test_image_loader.py
index 7093894b00..9c491fb881 100644
--- a/tests/unit/loaders/test_image_loader.py
+++ b/tests/unit/loaders/test_image_loader.py
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@ def loader(self):
     def png_loader(self):
         return ImageLoader(format="png")
 
-    @pytest.fixture()
-    def create_source(self, bytes_from_resource_path):
-        return bytes_from_resource_path
+    @pytest.fixture(params=["path_from_resource_path"])
+    def create_source(self, request):
+        return request.getfixturevalue(request.param)
 
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         ("resource_path", "mime_type"),
diff --git a/tests/unit/loaders/test_pdf_loader.py b/tests/unit/loaders/test_pdf_loader.py
index 119481525a..45027b95ca 100644
--- a/tests/unit/loaders/test_pdf_loader.py
+++ b/tests/unit/loaders/test_pdf_loader.py
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ class TestPdfLoader:
     def loader(self):
         return PdfLoader()
 
-    @pytest.fixture()
-    def create_source(self, bytes_from_resource_path):
-        return bytes_from_resource_path
+    @pytest.fixture(params=["path_from_resource_path"])
+    def create_source(self, request):
+        return request.getfixturevalue(request.param)
 
     def test_load(self, loader, create_source):
         source = create_source("bitcoin.pdf")
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ def test_load(self, loader, create_source):
         artifact = loader.load(source)
 
         assert len(artifact) == 9
-        assert artifact.value.startswith("Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer")
-        assert artifact.value.endswith('its applications," 1957.\n9')
+        assert artifact[0].value.startswith("Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer")
+        assert artifact[-1].value.endswith('its applications," 1957.\n9')
 
     def test_load_collection(self, loader, create_source):
         resource_paths = ["bitcoin.pdf", "bitcoin-2.pdf"]
@@ -34,5 +34,5 @@ def test_load_collection(self, loader, create_source):
         for key in keys:
             artifact = collection[key]
             assert len(artifact) == 9
-            assert artifact.value.startswith("Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer")
-            assert artifact.value.endswith('its applications," 1957.\n9')
+            assert artifact[0].value.startswith("Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer")
+            assert artifact[-1].value.endswith('its applications," 1957.\n9')
diff --git a/tests/unit/loaders/test_sql_loader.py b/tests/unit/loaders/test_sql_loader.py
index e977d3c5f5..b02e58a5aa 100644
--- a/tests/unit/loaders/test_sql_loader.py
+++ b/tests/unit/loaders/test_sql_loader.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 
 from griptape.drivers import SqlDriver
 from griptape.loaders import SqlLoader
-from tests.mocks.mock_embedding_driver import MockEmbeddingDriver
 
 MAX_TOKENS = 50
 
@@ -16,7 +15,6 @@ def loader(self):
                 engine_url="sqlite:///:memory:",
                 create_engine_params={"connect_args": {"check_same_thread": False}, "poolclass": StaticPool},
             ),
-            embedding_driver=MockEmbeddingDriver(),
         )
 
         sql_loader.sql_driver.execute_query(
@@ -42,8 +40,6 @@ def test_load(self, loader):
         assert artifact.value[1] == {"id": 2, "name": "Bob", "age": 30, "city": "Los Angeles"}
         assert artifact.value[2] == {"id": 3, "name": "Charlie", "age": 22, "city": "Chicago"}
 
-        assert artifact.embedding == [0, 1]
-
     def test_load_collection(self, loader):
         artifacts = loader.load_collection(["SELECT * FROM test_table LIMIT 1;", "SELECT * FROM test_table LIMIT 2;"])
 
@@ -57,5 +53,3 @@ def test_load_collection(self, loader):
             {"age": 25, "city": "New York", "id": 1, "name": "Alice"},
             {"age": 30, "city": "Los Angeles", "id": 2, "name": "Bob"},
         ]
-
-        assert list(artifacts.values())[0].embedding == [0, 1]
diff --git a/tests/unit/loaders/test_text_loader.py b/tests/unit/loaders/test_text_loader.py
index 383f3e7a44..c75417f56f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/loaders/test_text_loader.py
+++ b/tests/unit/loaders/test_text_loader.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ def loader(self, request):
         else:
             return TextLoader(encoding=encoding)
 
-    @pytest.fixture(params=["bytes_from_resource_path", "str_from_resource_path"])
+    @pytest.fixture(params=["path_from_resource_path"])
     def create_source(self, request):
         return request.getfixturevalue(request.param)
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/loaders/test_web_loader.py b/tests/unit/loaders/test_web_loader.py
index f7cccb6664..d6e958042b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/loaders/test_web_loader.py
+++ b/tests/unit/loaders/test_web_loader.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import pytest
 
 from griptape.loaders import WebLoader
-from tests.mocks.mock_embedding_driver import MockEmbeddingDriver
 
 MAX_TOKENS = 50
 
@@ -13,15 +12,12 @@ def _mock_trafilatura_fetch_url(self, mocker):
 
     @pytest.fixture()
     def loader(self):
-        return WebLoader(max_tokens=MAX_TOKENS, embedding_driver=MockEmbeddingDriver())
+        return WebLoader()
 
     def test_load(self, loader):
-        artifacts = loader.load("https://github.com/griptape-ai/griptape")
+        artifact = loader.load("https://github.com/griptape-ai/griptape")
 
-        assert len(artifacts) == 1
-        assert "foobar" in artifacts[0].value.lower()
-
-        assert artifacts[0].embedding == [0, 1]
+        assert "foobar" in artifact.value.lower()
 
     def test_load_exception(self, mocker, loader):
         mocker.patch("trafilatura.fetch_url", side_effect=Exception("error"))
@@ -38,9 +34,7 @@ def test_load_collection(self, loader):
             loader.to_key("https://github.com/griptape-ai/griptape"),
             loader.to_key("https://github.com/griptape-ai/griptape-docs"),
         ]
-        assert "foobar" in [a.value for artifact_list in artifacts.values() for a in artifact_list][0].lower()
-
-        assert list(artifacts.values())[0][0].embedding == [0, 1]
+        assert "foobar" in [a.value for a in artifacts.values()]
 
     def test_empty_page_string_response(self, loader, mocker):
         mocker.patch("trafilatura.extract", return_value="")
diff --git a/tests/unit/utils/test_file_utils.py b/tests/unit/utils/test_file_utils.py
index 00df6958df..1f3de5a9ff 100644
--- a/tests/unit/utils/test_file_utils.py
+++ b/tests/unit/utils/test_file_utils.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 class TestFileUtils:
     def test_load_file(self):
         dirname = os.path.dirname(__file__)
-        file = utils.load_file(os.path.join(dirname, "../../resources/foobar-many.txt"))
+        file = utils.load_file(os.path.join(dirname, "../../resources/foobar-many.txt")).read()
 
         assert file.decode("utf-8").startswith("foobar foobar foobar")
 
@@ -21,31 +21,27 @@ def test_load_files(self):
         files = utils.load_files(sources, futures_executor=futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=1))
         assert len(files) == 2
 
-        test_file = files[utils.str_to_hash(sources[0])]
+        test_file = files[utils.str_to_hash(sources[0])].read()
         assert test_file.decode("utf-8").startswith("foobar foobar foobar")
 
-        small_file = files[utils.str_to_hash(sources[2])]
+        small_file = files[utils.str_to_hash(sources[2])].read()
         assert len(small_file) == 97
         assert small_file[:8] == b"\x89PNG\r\n\x1a\n"
 
     def test_load_file_with_loader(self):
         dirname = os.path.dirname(__file__)
         file = utils.load_file(os.path.join(dirname, "../../", "resources/foobar-many.txt"))
-        artifacts = TextLoader(max_tokens=MAX_TOKENS).load(file)
+        artifact = TextLoader().load(file)
 
-        assert len(artifacts) == 39
-        assert isinstance(artifacts, list)
-        assert artifacts[0].value.startswith("foobar foobar foobar")
+        assert artifact.value.startswith("foobar foobar foobar")
 
     def test_load_files_with_loader(self):
         dirname = os.path.dirname(__file__)
         sources = ["resources/foobar-many.txt"]
         sources = [os.path.join(dirname, "../../", source) for source in sources]
         files = utils.load_files(sources)
-        loader = TextLoader(max_tokens=MAX_TOKENS)
+        loader = TextLoader()
         collection = loader.load_collection(list(files.values()))
 
         test_file_artifacts = collection[loader.to_key(files[utils.str_to_hash(sources[0])])]
-        assert len(test_file_artifacts) == 39
-        assert isinstance(test_file_artifacts, list)
-        assert test_file_artifacts[0].value.startswith("foobar foobar foobar")
+        assert test_file_artifacts.value.startswith("foobar foobar foobar")