diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index 80e92e28..d1d54610 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -1,19 +1,3 @@
-# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
-# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
-# distributed with this work for additional information
-# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
-# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
-# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
-# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
 name = "Arrow"
 uuid = "69666777-d1a9-59fb-9406-91d4454c9d45"
 authors = ["quinnj <quinn.jacobd@gmail.com>"]
@@ -32,6 +16,7 @@ LoggingExtras = "e6f89c97-d47a-5376-807f-9c37f3926c36"
 Mmap = "a63ad114-7e13-5084-954f-fe012c677804"
 PooledArrays = "2dfb63ee-cc39-5dd5-95bd-886bf059d720"
 SentinelArrays = "91c51154-3ec4-41a3-a24f-3f23e20d615c"
+StringViews = "354b36f9-a18e-4713-926e-db85100087ba"
 Tables = "bd369af6-aec1-5ad0-b16a-f7cc5008161c"
 TimeZones = "f269a46b-ccf7-5d73-abea-4c690281aa53"
 TranscodingStreams = "3bb67fe8-82b1-5028-8e26-92a6c54297fa"
diff --git a/src/Arrow.jl b/src/Arrow.jl
index efef8266..97b7f91d 100644
--- a/src/Arrow.jl
+++ b/src/Arrow.jl
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ using DataAPI,
     CodecZstd,
     TimeZones,
     BitIntegers,
-    ConcurrentUtilities
+    ConcurrentUtilities,
+    StringViews
 
 export ArrowTypes
 
diff --git a/src/arraytypes/arraytypes.jl b/src/arraytypes/arraytypes.jl
index b417abf6..599942db 100644
--- a/src/arraytypes/arraytypes.jl
+++ b/src/arraytypes/arraytypes.jl
@@ -271,3 +271,4 @@ include("map.jl")
 include("struct.jl")
 include("unions.jl")
 include("dictencoding.jl")
+include("views.jl")
diff --git a/src/arraytypes/views.jl b/src/arraytypes/views.jl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f13774b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/arraytypes/views.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+struct ViewElement
+    length::Int32
+    prefix::Int32
+    bufindex::Int32
+    offset::Int32
+end
+
+"""
+    Arrow.View
+
+An `ArrowVector` where each element is a variable sized list of some kind, like an `AbstractVector` or `AbstractString`.
+"""
+struct View{T} <: ArrowVector{T}
+    arrow::Vector{UInt8} # need to hold a reference to arrow memory blob
+    validity::ValidityBitmap
+    data::Vector{ViewElement}
+    inline::Vector{UInt8} # `data` field reinterpreted as a byte array
+    buffers::Vector{Vector{UInt8}} # holds non-inlined data
+    ℓ::Int
+    metadata::Union{Nothing,Base.ImmutableDict{String,String}}
+end
+
+Base.size(l::View) = (l.ℓ,)
+
+@propagate_inbounds function Base.getindex(l::View{T}, i::Integer) where {T}
+    @boundscheck checkbounds(l, i)
+    @inbounds v = l.data[i]
+    S = Base.nonmissingtype(T)
+    if S <: Base.CodeUnits
+        # BinaryView
+        return !l.validity[i] ? missing :
+            v.length < 13 ?
+                Base.CodeUnits(StringView(@view l.inline[(((i - 1) * 16) + 5):(((i - 1) * 16) + 5 + v.length - 1)])) :
+                Base.CodeUnits(StringView(@view l.buffers[v.bufindex + 1][(v.offset + 1):(v.offset + v.length)]))
+    else
+        # Utf8View
+        return !l.validity[i] ? missing :
+            v.length < 13 ?
+                ArrowTypes.fromarrow(T, StringView(@view l.inline[(((i - 1) * 16) + 5):(((i - 1) * 16) + 5 + v.length - 1)])) :
+                ArrowTypes.fromarrow(T, StringView(@view l.buffers[v.bufindex + 1][(v.offset + 1):(v.offset + v.length)]))
+    end
+end
+
+# @propagate_inbounds function Base.setindex!(l::List{T}, v, i::Integer) where {T}
+
+# end
diff --git a/src/eltypes.jl b/src/eltypes.jl
index ffc53c03..40a1c622 100644
--- a/src/eltypes.jl
+++ b/src/eltypes.jl
@@ -129,12 +129,12 @@ function arrowtype(b, ::Type{T}) where {T<:AbstractFloat}
     return Meta.FloatingPoint, Meta.floatingPointEnd(b), nothing
 end
 
-juliaeltype(f::Meta.Field, b::Union{Meta.Utf8,Meta.LargeUtf8}, convert) = String
+juliaeltype(f::Meta.Field, b::Union{Meta.Utf8,Meta.LargeUtf8,Meta.Utf8View}, convert) = String
 
 datasizeof(x) = sizeof(x)
 datasizeof(x::AbstractVector) = sum(datasizeof, x)
 
-juliaeltype(f::Meta.Field, b::Union{Meta.Binary,Meta.LargeBinary}, convert) = Base.CodeUnits
+juliaeltype(f::Meta.Field, b::Union{Meta.Binary,Meta.LargeBinary,Meta.BinaryView}, convert) = Base.CodeUnits
 
 juliaeltype(f::Meta.Field, x::Meta.FixedSizeBinary, convert) =
     NTuple{Int(x.byteWidth),UInt8}
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ ArrowTypes.JuliaType(::Val{PERIOD_SYMBOL}, ::Type{Duration{U}}) where {U} = peri
 ArrowTypes.fromarrow(::Type{P}, x::Duration{U}) where {P<:Dates.Period,U} = convert(P, x)
 
 # nested types; call juliaeltype recursively on nested children
-function juliaeltype(f::Meta.Field, list::Union{Meta.List,Meta.LargeList}, convert)
+function juliaeltype(f::Meta.Field, list::Union{Meta.List,Meta.LargeList,Meta.ListView,Meta.LargeListView}, convert)
     return Vector{juliaeltype(f.children[1], buildmetadata(f.children[1]), convert)}
 end
 
diff --git a/src/metadata/Message.jl b/src/metadata/Message.jl
index 139793db..b7883141 100644
--- a/src/metadata/Message.jl
+++ b/src/metadata/Message.jl
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ struct RecordBatch <: FlatBuffers.Table
     pos::Base.Int
 end
 
-Base.propertynames(x::RecordBatch) = (:length, :nodes, :buffers, :compression)
+Base.propertynames(x::RecordBatch) = (:length, :nodes, :buffers, :compression, :variadicBufferCounts)
 
 function Base.getproperty(x::RecordBatch, field::Symbol)
     if field === :length
@@ -97,6 +97,11 @@ function Base.getproperty(x::RecordBatch, field::Symbol)
             y = FlatBuffers.indirect(x, o + FlatBuffers.pos(x))
             return FlatBuffers.init(BodyCompression, FlatBuffers.bytes(x), y)
         end
+    elseif field === :variadicBufferCounts
+        o = FlatBuffers.offset(x, 12)
+        if o != 0
+            return FlatBuffers.Array{Int32}(x, o)
+        end
     end
     return nothing
 end
diff --git a/src/metadata/Schema.jl b/src/metadata/Schema.jl
index d4cfc821..161bc908 100644
--- a/src/metadata/Schema.jl
+++ b/src/metadata/Schema.jl
@@ -401,6 +401,91 @@ durationAddUnit(b::FlatBuffers.Builder, unit::TimeUnit.T) =
     FlatBuffers.prependslot!(b, 0, unit, 1)
 durationEnd(b::FlatBuffers.Builder) = FlatBuffers.endobject!(b)
 
+# /// Contains two child arrays, run_ends and values.
+# /// The run_ends child array must be a 16/32/64-bit integer array
+# /// which encodes the indices at which the run with the value in 
+# /// each corresponding index in the values child array ends.
+# /// Like list/struct types, the value array can be of any type.
+# table RunEndEncoded {
+# }
+struct RunEndEncoded <: FlatBuffers.Table
+    bytes::Vector{UInt8}
+    pos::Base.Int
+end
+
+Base.propertynames(x::RunEndEncoded) = ()
+
+runEndEncodedStart(b::FlatBuffers.Builder) = FlatBuffers.startobject!(b, 0)
+runEndEncodedEnd(b::FlatBuffers.Builder) = FlatBuffers.endobject!(b)
+
+# /// Logically the same as Binary, but the internal representation uses a view
+# /// struct that contains the string length and either the string's entire data
+# /// inline (for small strings) or an inlined prefix, an index of another buffer,
+# /// and an offset pointing to a slice in that buffer (for non-small strings).
+# ///
+# /// Since it uses a variable number of data buffers, each Field with this type
+# /// must have a corresponding entry in `variadicBufferCounts`.
+# table BinaryView {
+# }
+struct BinaryView <: FlatBuffers.Table
+    bytes::Vector{UInt8}
+    pos::Base.Int
+end
+
+Base.propertynames(x::BinaryView) = ()
+
+binaryViewStart(b::FlatBuffers.Builder) = FlatBuffers.startobject!(b, 0)
+binaryViewEnd(b::FlatBuffers.Builder) = FlatBuffers.endobject!(b)
+
+# /// Logically the same as Utf8, but the internal representation uses a view
+# /// struct that contains the string length and either the string's entire data
+# /// inline (for small strings) or an inlined prefix, an index of another buffer,
+# /// and an offset pointing to a slice in that buffer (for non-small strings).
+# ///
+# /// Since it uses a variable number of data buffers, each Field with this type
+# /// must have a corresponding entry in `variadicBufferCounts`.
+# table Utf8View {
+# }
+struct Utf8View <: FlatBuffers.Table
+    bytes::Vector{UInt8}
+    pos::Base.Int
+end
+
+Base.propertynames(x::Utf8View) = ()
+
+utf8ViewStart(b::FlatBuffers.Builder) = FlatBuffers.startobject!(b, 0)
+utf8ViewEnd(b::FlatBuffers.Builder) = FlatBuffers.endobject!(b)
+
+# /// Represents the same logical types that List can, but contains offsets and
+# /// sizes allowing for writes in any order and sharing of child values among
+# /// list values.
+# table ListView {
+# }
+struct ListView <: FlatBuffers.Table
+    bytes::Vector{UInt8}
+    pos::Base.Int
+end
+
+Base.propertynames(x::ListView) = ()
+
+listViewStart(b::FlatBuffers.Builder) = FlatBuffers.startobject!(b, 0)
+listViewEnd(b::FlatBuffers.Builder) = FlatBuffers.endobject!(b)
+
+# /// Represents the same logical types that LargeList can, but contains offsets
+# /// and sizes allowing for writes in any order and sharing of child values among
+# /// list values.
+# table LargeListView {
+# }
+struct LargeListView <: FlatBuffers.Table
+    bytes::Vector{UInt8}
+    pos::Base.Int
+end
+
+Base.propertynames(x::LargeListView) = ()
+
+largeListViewStart(b::FlatBuffers.Builder) = FlatBuffers.startobject!(b, 0)
+largeListViewEnd(b::FlatBuffers.Builder) = FlatBuffers.endobject!(b)
+
 function Type(b::UInt8)
     b == 1 && return Null
     b == 2 && return Int
@@ -423,6 +508,11 @@ function Type(b::UInt8)
     b == 19 && return LargeBinary
     b == 20 && return LargeUtf8
     b == 21 && return LargeList
+    b == 22 && return RunEndEncoded
+    b == 23 && return BinaryView
+    b == 24 && return Utf8View
+    b == 25 && return ListView
+    b == 26 && return LargeListView
     return nothing
 end
 
diff --git a/src/table.jl b/src/table.jl
index ecd8b1d8..bf5b5839 100644
--- a/src/table.jl
+++ b/src/table.jl
@@ -621,32 +621,34 @@ buildmetadata(x::AbstractDict) = x
 
 function Base.iterate(
     x::VectorIterator,
-    (columnidx, nodeidx, bufferidx)=(Int64(1), Int64(1), Int64(1)),
+    (columnidx, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx)=(Int64(1), Int64(1), Int64(1), Int64(1)),
 )
     columnidx > length(x.schema.fields) && return nothing
     field = x.schema.fields[columnidx]
-    @debugv 2 "building top-level column: field = $(field), columnidx = $columnidx, nodeidx = $nodeidx, bufferidx = $bufferidx"
-    A, nodeidx, bufferidx = build(
+    @debugv 2 "building top-level column: field = $(field), columnidx = $columnidx, nodeidx = $nodeidx, bufferidx = $bufferidx, varbufferidx = $varbufferidx"
+    A, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx = build(
         field,
         x.batch,
         x.batch.msg.header,
         x.dictencodings,
         nodeidx,
         bufferidx,
+        varbufferidx,
         x.convert,
     )
-    @debugv 2 "built top-level column: A = $(typeof(A)), columnidx = $columnidx, nodeidx = $nodeidx, bufferidx = $bufferidx"
+    @debugv 2 "built top-level column: A = $(typeof(A)), columnidx = $columnidx, nodeidx = $nodeidx, bufferidx = $bufferidx, varbufferidx = $varbufferidx"
     @debugv 3 A
-    return A, (columnidx + 1, nodeidx, bufferidx)
+    return A, (columnidx + 1, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx)
 end
 
 Base.length(x::VectorIterator) = length(x.schema.fields)
 
 const ListTypes =
     Union{Meta.Utf8,Meta.LargeUtf8,Meta.Binary,Meta.LargeBinary,Meta.List,Meta.LargeList}
-const LargeLists = Union{Meta.LargeUtf8,Meta.LargeBinary,Meta.LargeList}
+const LargeLists = Union{Meta.LargeUtf8,Meta.LargeBinary,Meta.LargeList,Meta.LargeListView}
+const ViewTypes = Union{Meta.Utf8View,Meta.BinaryView,Meta.ListView,Meta.LargeListView}
 
-function build(field::Meta.Field, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert)
+function build(field::Meta.Field, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx, convert)
     d = field.dictionary
     if d !== nothing
         validity = buildbitmap(batch, rb, nodeidx, bufferidx)
@@ -665,10 +667,10 @@ function build(field::Meta.Field, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert)
         nodeidx += 1
         bufferidx += 1
     else
-        A, nodeidx, bufferidx =
-            build(field, field.type, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert)
+        A, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx =
+            build(field, field.type, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx, convert)
     end
-    return A, nodeidx, bufferidx
+    return A, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx
 end
 
 function buildbitmap(batch, rb, nodeidx, bufferidx)
@@ -744,7 +746,7 @@ end
 
 const SubVector{T,P} = SubArray{T,1,P,Tuple{UnitRange{Int64}},true}
 
-function build(f::Meta.Field, L::ListTypes, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert)
+function build(f::Meta.Field, L::ListTypes, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx, convert)
     @debugv 2 "building array: L = $L"
     validity = buildbitmap(batch, rb, nodeidx, bufferidx)
     bufferidx += 1
@@ -759,16 +761,18 @@ function build(f::Meta.Field, L::ListTypes, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, c
     meta = buildmetadata(f.custom_metadata)
     T = juliaeltype(f, meta, convert)
     if L isa Meta.Utf8 ||
+       L isa Meta.Utf8View ||
        L isa Meta.LargeUtf8 ||
        L isa Meta.Binary ||
+       L isa Meta.BinaryView ||
        L isa Meta.LargeBinary
         buffer = rb.buffers[bufferidx]
         bytes, A = reinterp(UInt8, batch, buffer, rb.compression)
         bufferidx += 1
     else
         bytes = UInt8[]
-        A, nodeidx, bufferidx =
-            build(f.children[1], batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert)
+        A, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx =
+            build(f.children[1], batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx, convert)
         # juliaeltype returns Vector for List, translate to SubArray
         S = Base.nonmissingtype(T)
         if S <: Vector
@@ -776,7 +780,29 @@ function build(f::Meta.Field, L::ListTypes, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, c
             T = S == T ? ST : Union{Missing,ST}
         end
     end
-    return List{T,OT,typeof(A)}(bytes, validity, offsets, A, len, meta), nodeidx, bufferidx
+    return List{T,OT,typeof(A)}(bytes, validity, offsets, A, len, meta), nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx
+end
+
+function build(f::Meta.Field, L::ViewTypes, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx, convert)
+    @debugv 2 "building array: L = $L"
+    validity = buildbitmap(batch, rb, nodeidx, bufferidx)
+    bufferidx += 1
+    buffer = rb.buffers[bufferidx]
+    inline, views = reinterp(ViewElement, batch, buffer, rb.compression)
+    bufferidx += 1
+    buffers = Vector{UInt8}[]
+    for i = 1:rb.variadicBufferCounts[varbufferidx]
+        buffer = rb.buffers[bufferidx]
+        _, A = reinterp(UInt8, batch, buffer, rb.compression)
+        push!(buffers, A)
+        bufferidx += 1
+    end
+    varbufferidx += 1
+    len = rb.nodes[nodeidx].length
+    nodeidx += 1
+    meta = buildmetadata(f.custom_metadata)
+    T = juliaeltype(f, meta, convert)
+    return View{T}(batch.bytes, validity, views, inline, buffers, len, meta), nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx
 end
 
 function build(
@@ -787,6 +813,7 @@ function build(
     de,
     nodeidx,
     bufferidx,
+    varbufferidx,
     convert,
 )
     @debugv 2 "building array: L = $L"
@@ -800,15 +827,15 @@ function build(
         bufferidx += 1
     else
         bytes = UInt8[]
-        A, nodeidx, bufferidx =
-            build(f.children[1], batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert)
+        A, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx =
+            build(f.children[1], batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx, convert)
     end
     meta = buildmetadata(f.custom_metadata)
     T = juliaeltype(f, meta, convert)
-    return FixedSizeList{T,typeof(A)}(bytes, validity, A, len, meta), nodeidx, bufferidx
+    return FixedSizeList{T,typeof(A)}(bytes, validity, A, len, meta), nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx
 end
 
-function build(f::Meta.Field, L::Meta.Map, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert)
+function build(f::Meta.Field, L::Meta.Map, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx, convert)
     @debugv 2 "building array: L = $L"
     validity = buildbitmap(batch, rb, nodeidx, bufferidx)
     bufferidx += 1
@@ -820,13 +847,13 @@ function build(f::Meta.Field, L::Meta.Map, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, co
     bufferidx += 1
     len = rb.nodes[nodeidx].length
     nodeidx += 1
-    A, nodeidx, bufferidx = build(f.children[1], batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert)
+    A, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx = build(f.children[1], batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx, convert)
     meta = buildmetadata(f.custom_metadata)
     T = juliaeltype(f, meta, convert)
-    return Map{T,OT,typeof(A)}(validity, offsets, A, len, meta), nodeidx, bufferidx
+    return Map{T,OT,typeof(A)}(validity, offsets, A, len, meta), nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx
 end
 
-function build(f::Meta.Field, L::Meta.Struct, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert)
+function build(f::Meta.Field, L::Meta.Struct, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx, convert)
     @debugv 2 "building array: L = $L"
     validity = buildbitmap(batch, rb, nodeidx, bufferidx)
     bufferidx += 1
@@ -834,17 +861,17 @@ function build(f::Meta.Field, L::Meta.Struct, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx,
     vecs = []
     nodeidx += 1
     for child in f.children
-        A, nodeidx, bufferidx = build(child, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert)
+        A, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx = build(child, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx, convert)
         push!(vecs, A)
     end
     data = Tuple(vecs)
     meta = buildmetadata(f.custom_metadata)
     T = juliaeltype(f, meta, convert)
     fnames = ntuple(i -> Symbol(f.children[i].name), length(f.children))
-    return Struct{T,typeof(data),fnames}(validity, data, len, meta), nodeidx, bufferidx
+    return Struct{T,typeof(data),fnames}(validity, data, len, meta), nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx
 end
 
-function build(f::Meta.Field, L::Meta.Union, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert)
+function build(f::Meta.Field, L::Meta.Union, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx, convert)
     @debugv 2 "building array: L = $L"
     buffer = rb.buffers[bufferidx]
     bytes, typeIds = reinterp(UInt8, batch, buffer, rb.compression)
@@ -857,7 +884,7 @@ function build(f::Meta.Field, L::Meta.Union, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx,
     vecs = []
     nodeidx += 1
     for child in f.children
-        A, nodeidx, bufferidx = build(child, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert)
+        A, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx = build(child, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx, convert)
         push!(vecs, A)
     end
     data = Tuple(vecs)
@@ -869,20 +896,21 @@ function build(f::Meta.Field, L::Meta.Union, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx,
     else
         B = SparseUnion{T,UT,typeof(data)}(bytes, typeIds, data, meta)
     end
-    return B, nodeidx, bufferidx
+    return B, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx
 end
 
-function build(f::Meta.Field, L::Meta.Null, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert)
+function build(f::Meta.Field, L::Meta.Null, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx, convert)
     @debugv 2 "building array: L = $L"
     meta = buildmetadata(f.custom_metadata)
     T = juliaeltype(f, meta, convert)
     return NullVector{maybemissing(T)}(MissingVector(rb.nodes[nodeidx].length), meta),
-    nodeidx + 1,
-    bufferidx
+        nodeidx + 1,
+        bufferidx,
+        varbufferidx
 end
 
 # primitives
-function build(f::Meta.Field, ::L, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert) where {L}
+function build(f::Meta.Field, ::L, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx, convert) where {L}
     @debugv 2 "building array: L = $L"
     validity = buildbitmap(batch, rb, nodeidx, bufferidx)
     bufferidx += 1
@@ -895,10 +923,10 @@ function build(f::Meta.Field, ::L, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert) w
     len = rb.nodes[nodeidx].length
     T = juliaeltype(f, meta, convert)
     @debugv 2 "final julia type for primitive: T = $T"
-    return Primitive(T, bytes, validity, A, len, meta), nodeidx + 1, bufferidx + 1
+    return Primitive(T, bytes, validity, A, len, meta), nodeidx + 1, bufferidx + 1, varbufferidx
 end
 
-function build(f::Meta.Field, L::Meta.Bool, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, convert)
+function build(f::Meta.Field, L::Meta.Bool, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, varbufferidx, convert)
     @debugv 2 "building array: L = $L"
     validity = buildbitmap(batch, rb, nodeidx, bufferidx)
     bufferidx += 1
@@ -923,5 +951,5 @@ function build(f::Meta.Field, L::Meta.Bool, batch, rb, de, nodeidx, bufferidx, c
     end
     len = rb.nodes[nodeidx].length
     T = juliaeltype(f, meta, convert)
-    return BoolVector{T}(decodedbytes, pos, validity, len, meta), nodeidx + 1, bufferidx + 1
+    return BoolVector{T}(decodedbytes, pos, validity, len, meta), nodeidx + 1, bufferidx + 1, varbufferidx
 end