Since you are new to XML, I would suggest taking a look at this article (Perl XML Quickstart: The Perl XML Interfaces), paying special attention to the XML::Simple section.

The first paragraph of the XML::Simple section states:

Originally created to simplify the task of reading and writing config files in an XML format, XML::Simple translates data between XML documents and native Perl data structures with no intervening abstract interface. Elements and attributes are accessed using nested references.

Judging by your post this looks like it would be a good fit.