--- a
+++ b/medacy/tools/read_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import json
+import os
+
+from medacy import __file__ as medacy_root
+
+
+_config_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(medacy_root), "../config.json")
+assert os.path.isfile(_config_path)
+
+
+def read_config(key):
+    """
+    Reads medaCy's config file and returns the value at a given key
+    :param key: the desired key
+    :return: the value at that key
+    """
+    with open(_config_path, "rb") as f:
+        config = json.load(f)
+
+    return config[key]
+