diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e8e4f38f7..4d403a1fd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,39 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [v0.6.1](https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs/tree/v0.6.1/) (2025-01-10)
+
+[Full Changelog](https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs/compare/v0.6.0...v0.6.1)
+
+
+### 🚀 Features / new APIs
+
+1. New feature flag `default-engine-rustls` ([#572])
+
+### 🐛 Bug Fixes
+
+1. Allow partition value timestamp to be ISO8601 formatted string ([#622])
+2. Fix stderr output for handle tests ([#630])
+
+### ⚙️ Chores/CI
+
+1. Expand the arrow version range to allow arrow v54 ([#616])
+2. Update to CodeCov @v5 ([#608])
+
+### Other
+
+1. Fix msrv check by pinning `home` dependency ([#605])
+2. Add release script ([#636])
+
+
+[#605]: https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs/pull/605
+[#608]: https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs/pull/608
+[#622]: https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs/pull/622
+[#630]: https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs/pull/630
+[#572]: https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs/pull/572
+[#616]: https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs/pull/616
+[#636]: https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs/pull/636
+
+
 ## [v0.6.0](https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs/tree/v0.6.0/) (2024-12-17)
 
 [Full Changelog](https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs/compare/v0.5.0...v0.6.0)
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 477bb5cd5..ec7993736 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ license = "Apache-2.0"
 repository = "https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs"
 readme = "README.md"
 rust-version = "1.80"
-version = "0.6.0"
+version = "0.6.1"
 
 [workspace.dependencies]
 # When changing the arrow version range, also modify ffi/Cargo.toml which has
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2f5565d8f..46ec1b10f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -43,10 +43,10 @@ consumer's own `Engine` trait, the kernel has a feature flag to enable a default
 ```toml
 # fewer dependencies, requires consumer to implement Engine trait.
 # allows consumers to implement their own in-memory format
-delta_kernel = "0.6"
+delta_kernel = "0.6.1"
 
 # or turn on the default engine, based on arrow
-delta_kernel = { version = "0.6", features = ["default-engine"] }
+delta_kernel = { version = "0.6.1", features = ["default-engine"] }
 ```
 
 ### Feature flags
diff --git a/cliff.toml b/cliff.toml
index f629cc3fd..cf8ae7a63 100644
--- a/cliff.toml
+++ b/cliff.toml
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ header = """
 """
 # Tera template
 body = """
-## [{{ version }}](https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs/tree/{{ version }}/) ({{ timestamp | date(format="%Y-%m-%d") }})
+## [v{{ version }}](https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs/tree/v{{ version }}/) ({{ timestamp | date(format="%Y-%m-%d") }})
 
-[Full Changelog](https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs/compare/{{ previous.version }}...{{ version }})
+[Full Changelog](https://github.com/delta-io/delta-kernel-rs/compare/{{ previous.version }}...v{{ version }})
 
 {% for group, commits in commits | group_by(attribute="group") %}
     ### {{ group | striptags | trim | upper_first }}
diff --git a/ffi/Cargo.toml b/ffi/Cargo.toml
index d0904c24f..aa4edc167 100644
--- a/ffi/Cargo.toml
+++ b/ffi/Cargo.toml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ url = "2"
 delta_kernel = { path = "../kernel", default-features = false, features = [
   "developer-visibility",
 ] }
-delta_kernel_ffi_macros = { path = "../ffi-proc-macros", version = "0.6.0" }
+delta_kernel_ffi_macros = { path = "../ffi-proc-macros", version = "0.6.1" }
 
 # used if we use the default engine to be able to move arrow data into the c-ffi format
 arrow-schema = { version = ">=53, <55", default-features = false, features = [
diff --git a/kernel/Cargo.toml b/kernel/Cargo.toml
index e56608a33..a045153cf 100644
--- a/kernel/Cargo.toml
+++ b/kernel/Cargo.toml
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ uuid = "1.10.0"
 z85 = "3.0.5"
 
 # bring in our derive macros
-delta_kernel_derive = { path = "../derive-macros", version = "0.6.0" }
+delta_kernel_derive = { path = "../derive-macros", version = "0.6.1" }
 
 # used for developer-visibility
 visibility = "0.1.1"
diff --git a/release.sh b/release.sh
index 7aa086742..640fb4faa 100755
--- a/release.sh
+++ b/release.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 ###################################################################################################
 # USAGE:
-# 1. on a release branch: ./release.sh <version>
+# 1. on a release branch: ./release.sh <version> (example: ./release.sh 0.1.0)
 # 2. on main branch (after merging release branch): ./release.sh
 ###################################################################################################
 
@@ -155,6 +155,15 @@ publish() {
     fi
 }
 
+
+validate_version() {
+    local version=$1
+    # Check if version starts with a number
+    if [[ ! $version =~ ^[0-9] ]]; then
+        log_error "Version must start with a number (e.g., '0.1.1'). Got: '$version'"
+    fi
+}
+
 check_requirements
 
 if is_main_branch; then
@@ -166,5 +175,6 @@ else
     if [[ $# -ne 1 ]]; then
         log_error "Version argument required when on release branch\nUsage: $0 <version>"
     fi
+    validate_version "$1"
     handle_release_branch "$1"
 fi