diff --git a/gsheets-helper/SheetHelper.gs b/gsheets-helper/SheetHelper.gs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..95e65ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gsheets-helper/SheetHelper.gs
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+var SheetHelper = class SheetHelper {
+  constructor(sheetId, sheetName, headerIndex, load = false, colNamer = (x) => x) {
+    this.sheet = SpreadsheetApp.openById(sheetId);
+    this.worksheet = this.sheet.getSheetByName(sheetName);
+    this.headerIndex = headerIndex;
+    this.protection = undefined;
+    this.colNamer = colNamer;
+    if (load) {
+      this._load();
+    }
+  }
+  _load() {
+    // get all values + load headers + calculate headerMap
+    this.rows = this.worksheet.getDataRange().getDisplayValues();
+    // remove irrelevant rows
+    this.rows.splice(0, this.headerIndex - 1);
+    // retrieve header rows + remove from values
+    this.header = this.rows[0];
+    this.headerMap = this._indexHeader();// column name => column index
+    this.rows.shift();
+  }
+  /**
+   * receives a row 0-index (from the data, excludes the header),
+   * a column name, and returns the cell value
+   */
+  getCell(rowIndex, colName, useColNamer = true) {
+    colName = useColNamer ? this.colNamer(colName) : colName;
+    return this.rows[rowIndex][this.headerMap[colName]];
+  }
+  /**
+   * same as {@see getCell} but defaults to empty string and performs a trim
+   */
+  getCellOrEmpty(rowIndex, colName) {
+    return (this.getCell(rowIndex, colName) || "").trim()
+  }
+  _indexHeader() {
+    // receives list of header names, returns object of ColumnName:ColIndex1
+    // colname is lowercased and trimmed
+    return this.header.reduce((obj, name, i) => {
+      obj[name.trim().toLowerCase()] = i;
+      return obj;
+    }, {});
+  }
+  _isEmptyRow(row) {
+    // all cols need to be empty
+    return row !== undefined && !row.some(cell => cell.length > 0)
+  }
+  newRowIndex(isEmptyRow = this._isEmptyRow) {
+    // finds the next empty row to insert
+    let i = this.rows.length - 1;
+    while (isEmptyRow(this.rows[i])) {
+      i--;
+    }
+    return i + this.headerIndex + 1 + 1; // 1 for the 1-based, 1 for new row
+  }
+  getCellAsRange(row, colName, useColNamer = true) {
+    colName = useColNamer ? this.colNamer(colName) : colName;
+    return this.worksheet.getRange(row, this.headerMap[colName] + 1);
+  }
+  getCellValue(row, colName, useColNamer = true) {
+    colName = useColNamer ? this.colNamer(colName) : colName;
+    return this.rows[row][this.headerMap[colName]];
+  }
+  // offsets the row index by the header, so it is the same as calling getCellAsRange.value()
+  getCellValueH(row, colName, useColNamer = true) {
+    colName = useColNamer ? this.colNamer(colName) : colName;
+    return this.rows[row - this.headerIndex - 1][this.headerMap[colName]];
+  }
+  updateCell(row, colName, value, useColNamer = true) {
+    //console.info(`cell(row=${row}, col=${this.headerMap[colName] + 1} [colName=${colName}]) = ${value}`)
+    this.getCellAsRange(row, colName, useColNamer).setNumberFormat('@STRING@').setValue(value)
+  }
+  hasCol(colName, useColNamer = true) {
+    colName = useColNamer ? this.colNamer(colName) : colName;
+    return this.headerMap.hasOwnProperty(colName);
+  }
+  getColValues(colName, useColNamer = true) {
+    colName = useColNamer ? this.colNamer(colName) : colName;
+    return [].concat.apply([],
+      this.rows.map(row => row[this.headerMap[colName]])
+    );
+  }
+  getColAsRange(fromRow, numRows, colName, useColNamer = true){
+    colName = useColNamer ? this.colNamer(colName) : colName;
+    return this.worksheet.getRange(fromRow, this.headerMap[colName] + 1, numRows)
+  }
+  setCol(fromRow, colName, matrix, useColNamer = true) {
+    if (matrix.length == 0) { return }
+    this.getColAsRange(fromRow, matrix.length, colName, useColNamer).setNumberFormat('@STRING@').setValues(matrix);
+  }
+  resolveColName(colName) {
+    return this.colNamer(colName);
+  }
+  lock(range, lockName) {
+    lockName = lockName || 'Sheet is protected by an automated Apps Script'
+    this.protection = this.worksheet.getRange(range).protect().setDescription(lockName);
+    let me = Session.getEffectiveUser();
+    this.protection.removeEditors(this.protection.getEditors());
+    this.protection.addEditor(me);
+  }
+  unlock() {
+    if (this.protection !== undefined) {
+      this.protection.remove();
+    }
+    this.protection = undefined;
+  }
+  /**
+   * Returns an object whose keys are description names
+   * and values are protection objects
+   */
+  getAllProtectedDescriptions() {
+    console.time("getAllProtectedDescriptions");
+    let descriptionsToProtections = this.sheet.getProtections(SpreadsheetApp.ProtectionType.RANGE)
+    .reduce(function (obj, protection) {
+        const description = protection.getDescription();
+        if (description != null) {
+          obj[description] = protection;
+        }
+        return obj;
+      }, {});
+    console.timeEnd("getAllProtectedDescriptions");
+    return descriptionsToProtections;
+  }
+}