Python: Read CSV file into array

gistfile1.py

def readcsv(filename):	
    ifile = open(filename, "rU")
    reader = csv.reader(ifile, delimiter=";")

    rownum = 0	
    a = []

    for row in reader:
        a.append (row)
        rownum += 1
    
    ifile.close()
    return a

This reads each row as a string.