XmlReader.ReadElementContentAs(Type, IXmlNamespaceResolver) reads the element content as the requested type.
using System; using System.IO; using System.Xml; public class Sample { public static void Main(){ using (XmlReader reader = XmlReader.Create("dataFile.xml")) { reader.ReadToFollowing("date"); DateTime date = (DateTime) reader.ReadElementContentAs(typeof(System.DateTime), null); Console.WriteLine(date.ToLongDateString()); } } }