A computer-implemented method for improving database management includes selecting one or more database records that are requested based on a query statement. The one or more database records may are read from a first database file. The one or more database records are copied from the first database file and stored to a memory. The one or more database records are deleted from the first database file at substantially the same time as the reading the one or more database records. The reading and the deleting occur through a single read and delete input/output (I/O) operation.