diff --git a/src/GPU/README b/src/GPU/README
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ea1fa702853bfd5881fede970be51ae3444a8211
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/GPU/README
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This package implements GPU optimizations of various LAMMPS styles.
+
+This package uses an external library in lib/gpu which must be
+compiled before making LAMMPS.  See the lib/gpu/README file and the
+LAMMPS manual for information on building LAMMPS with external
+libraries.  The settings in the Makefile.lammps file in that directory
+must be correct for LAMMPS to build correctly with this package
+installed.
+
+The people who created this package are Mike Brown (while at Sandia
+and ORNL) and Trung Nguyen (while at ORNL).
diff --git a/src/KOKKOS/README b/src/KOKKOS/README
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e1cf04c7e84efaeb0d6fec982e414bc46867baf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/KOKKOS/README
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+This package implements optimizations of various LAMMPS styles using
+the Kokkos library, which is part of Trilinos
+(http://trilinos.sandia.gov/packages/kokkos).  It's a templated C++
+library that provides two key abstractions for an application like
+LAMMPS.  First, it allows a single implementation of an application
+kernel (e.g. a pair style) to run efficiently on different kinds of
+hardware, such as a GPU, Intel Phi, or many-core chip.
+
+This package uses an external library in lib/kokkos.  However the
+"library" is mostly header files and is auto-built when building
+LAMMPS with this package installed, so no special pre-build of the
+library is necessary.  See the lib/kokkos/README file and the LAMMPS
+manual for information on building LAMMPS with external libraries.
+The settings in the Makefile.lammps file in that directory must be
+correct for LAMMPS to build correctly with this package installed.
+
+This package was developed primaritly by Christian Trott (Sandia) with
+contributions of various styles by others, including Sikandar Mashayak
+(UIUC).  The underlying Kokkos library was written primarily by Carter
+Edwards, Christian Trott, and Dan Sunderland (all Sandia).
+
diff --git a/src/MEAM/README b/src/MEAM/README
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2f2bf275fb92ffcca01c794d11626b8e46c8b628
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/MEAM/README
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This package implements the MEAM potential as a LAMMPS pair style.
+
+This package uses an external library in lib/meam which must be
+compiled before making LAMMPS.  See the lib/meam/README file and the
+LAMMPS manual for information on building LAMMPS with external
+libraries.  The settings in the Makefile.lammps file in that directory
+must be correct for LAMMPS to build correctly with this package
+installed.
+
+The person who created the MEAM library and this pair style is Greg
+Wagner (while at Sandia, now at Northwestern U).
diff --git a/src/POEMS/README b/src/POEMS/README
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3c56d5c74f619bc114a26a28e663a4a6de604746
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/POEMS/README
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+This package implements the fix poems command for coupling multiple
+rigid bodies together.
+
+This package uses an external library in lib/poems which must be
+compiled before making LAMMPS.  See the lib/poems/README file and the
+LAMMPS manual for information on building LAMMPS with external
+libraries.  The settings in the Makefile.lammps file in that directory
+must be correct for LAMMPS to build correctly with this package
+installed.
+
+The people who created the POEMS library and this fix are Rudranarayan
+Mukherjee (while at RPI, now at NASA) and Kurt Anderson (RPI).
diff --git a/src/USER-ATC/README b/src/USER-ATC/README
index 85e2c1a5703fbd9b5f7362ad430d0e78e52ea92a..06ab91ed809178679532185b24e596680a13ec77 100644
--- a/src/USER-ATC/README
+++ b/src/USER-ATC/README
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@ There are example scripts for using this package in examples/USER/atc.
 This package uses an external library in lib/atc which must be
 compiled before making LAMMPS.  See the lib/atc/README file and the
 LAMMPS manual for information on building LAMMPS with external
-libraries.
+libraries.  The settings in the Makefile.lammps file in that directory
+must be correct for LAMMPS to build correctly with this package
+installed.
 
 The primary people who created this package are Reese Jones
 (rjones at sandia.gov), Jeremy Templeton (jatempl at sandia.gov) and Jon
diff --git a/src/USER-AWPMD/README b/src/USER-AWPMD/README
index 4dd16fca46fec1efde34010ffab3352e8b27f723..4a853f5059d72bb2a1e299f273c53fff744eff6e 100644
--- a/src/USER-AWPMD/README
+++ b/src/USER-AWPMD/README
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@ examples/USER/awpmd.
 This package uses an external library in lib/awpmd which must be
 compiled before making LAMMPS.  See the lib/awpmd/README file and the
 LAMMPS manual for information on building LAMMPS with external
-libraries.
+libraries.  The settings in the Makefile.lammps file in that directory
+must be correct for LAMMPS to build correctly with this package
+installed.
 
 The person who created this package is Ilya Valuev at the JIHT in
 Russia (valuev at physik.hu-berlin.de).  Contact him directly if you
diff --git a/src/USER-COLVARS/README b/src/USER-COLVARS/README
index 3a0593946c0d39b9d9d86309960c6e4bd95747f6..20551986cd9141801d0f733aafe7cff51475c7e4 100644
--- a/src/USER-COLVARS/README
+++ b/src/USER-COLVARS/README
@@ -1,36 +1,37 @@
 This package implements the "fix colvars" command which can be used
 in a LAMMPS input script.
 
-This fix allows to use "collective variables" to implement
-Adaptive Biasing Force, Metadynamics, Steered MD, Umbrella
-Sampling and Restraints. This code consists of two parts:
+This fix allows use of "collective variables" to implement Adaptive
+Biasing Force, Metadynamics, Steered MD, Umbrella Sampling and
+Restraints.
 
-- a portable collective variable module library written
-  and maintained by Giacomo Fiorin (ICMS, Temple University,
-  Philadelphia, PA, USA) and Jerome Henin (IBPC, CNRS,
-  Paris, France).
+This package uses an external library in lib/colvars which must be
+compiled before making LAMMPS.  See the lib/colvars/README file and
+the LAMMPS manual for information on building LAMMPS with external
+libraries.  The settings in the Makefile.lammps file in that directory
+must be correct for LAMMPS to build correctly with this package
+installed.
 
-  A copy of this code is located in the directory lib/colvars
-  and needs to be compiled first. More info about this code
-  can be found at: http://colvars.github.io
+The external library is a portable collective variable module library
+written and maintained by Giacomo Fiorin (ICMS, Temple University,
+Philadelphia, PA, USA) and Jerome Henin (IBPC, CNRS, Paris, France).
 
-  and in the publications:
+More info about this library can be found at: http://colvars.github.io
 
-  Using collective variables to drive molecular dynamics
-  simulations,
+and in these publications:
 
-   Giacomo Fiorin, Michael L. Klein & Jérôme Hénin:
-   Molecular Physics, 111, 3345-3362 (2013)
+Using collective variables to drive molecular dynamics simulations,
+Giacomo Fiorin, Michael L. Klein & Jérôme Hénin: Molecular Physics,
+111, 3345-3362 (2013)
 
-  Exploring Multidimensional Free Energy Landscapes Using
-  Time-Dependent Biases on Collective Variables,
-   J. Hénin, G. Fiorin, C. Chipot, and M. L. Klein,
-   J. Chem. Theory Comput., 6, 35-47 (2010).
+Exploring Multidimensional Free Energy Landscapes Using Time-Dependent
+Biases on Collective Variables, J. Hénin, G. Fiorin, C. Chipot, and
+M. L. Klein, J. Chem. Theory Comput., 6, 35-47 (2010).
 
-- the colvars fix and a thin interface layer, which exchanges
-  information between LAMMPS and the collective variable module.
-  This interface was written and is maintained by
-  Axel Kohlmeyer (akohlmey@gmail.com)
+The colvars fix implementes a thin interface layer, which exchanges
+information between LAMMPS and the collective variable module.  This
+interface was written and is maintained by Axel Kohlmeyer
+(akohlmey@gmail.com)
 
 See the doc page of fix colvars for more details.
 
@@ -45,5 +46,4 @@ The person who created this package is Axel Kohlmeyer at Temple U
 
 ---------------------------------
 
-
 Version: 2014-08-13
diff --git a/src/USER-CUDA/README b/src/USER-CUDA/README
index 74e5ad60c00f412e63a2143fa7059ea6b4080000..b9d2c07f8a5235d57b0e445cab59831536923486 100644
--- a/src/USER-CUDA/README
+++ b/src/USER-CUDA/README
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@ examples/USER/cuda.
 This package uses an external library in lib/cuda which must be
 compiled before making LAMMPS.  See the lib/cuda/README file and the
 LAMMPS manual for information on building LAMMPS with external
-libraries.
+libraries.  The settings in the Makefile.lammps file in that directory
+must be correct for LAMMPS to build correctly with this package
+installed.
 
 The person who created this package is Christian Trott at the
 University of Technology Ilmenau, Germany (christian.trott at
diff --git a/src/USER-QMMM/README b/src/USER-QMMM/README
index 16bbdcc708ba9c09c7668ab2060feae8e85d82d0..909c5bd286ea758010e574b64e0f418cb836dea0 100644
--- a/src/USER-QMMM/README
+++ b/src/USER-QMMM/README
@@ -4,6 +4,13 @@ in a LAMMPS input script.
 This fix enables LAMMPS to be used in a QM/MM simulation, currently
 only in combination with pw.x code from the Quantum ESPRESSO package.
 
+This package uses an external library in lib/qmmm which must be
+compiled before making LAMMPS.  See the lib/qmmm/README file and the
+LAMMPS manual for information on building LAMMPS with external
+libraries.  The settings in the Makefile.lammps file in that directory
+must be correct for LAMMPS to build correctly with this package
+installed.
+
 The person who created this package is Axel Kohlmeyer at Temple U
 (akohlmey at gmail.com).  Contact him directly if you have questions.
 
diff --git a/src/VORONOI/README b/src/VORONOI/README
index 118abfa296c68daff2d88021a29f3dd3b02609b6..ef408d088e0d75d7b63b1c47ae706a7ef430425e 100644
--- a/src/VORONOI/README
+++ b/src/VORONOI/README
@@ -2,35 +2,22 @@ The VORONOI package adds a compute voronoi/atom command which
 calculates a Voronoi tesselation of the system.
 
 It uses the Voro++ library, available at http://math.lbl.gov/voro++ to
-compute the tesselation locally on each processor.  
+compute the tesselation locally on each processor.  Voro++ was
+develped by Chris H. Rycroft while at UC Berkeley / Lawrence Berkeley
+Laboratory.
+
+That library can be downloaded and built in lib/voronoi or elsewhere
+on your system, which must be done before bulding LAMMPS with this
+package.  Details of the download, build, and install process for
+Voro++ are given in the lib/voronoi/README file, and scripts are
+provided to help automate the process.  Also see the LAMMPS manual for
+general information on building LAMMPS with external libraries.  The
+settings in the Makefile.lammps file in lib/voronoi must be correct
+for LAMMPS to build correctly with this package installed.
+
+Once you have successfully built LAMMPS with this package and Voro++,
+you can test it using an input file from the examples dir:
 
-== Installation of the Voro++ library ==
-
-1.  Download Voro++ at http://math.lbl.gov/voro++/download
-    which gives instructions for using SVN to check-out the source:
-    % svn checkout https://codeforge.lbl.gov/anonscm/voro/trunk
-
-2.  compile Voro++
-    % make 
-
-3.  install Voro++ at the default location (/usr/local) 
-    % sudo make install
-
-3b. ..or change the PREFIX variable in the config.mk file 
-    to a location that is writable by the user i.e.
-    PREFIX=/home/maxuser/install/
-
-4.  In the LAMMPS src directory add the VORONOI package
-    % make yes-voronoi
-
-4b. if a different PREFIX than the default was used to install Voro++
-    update the paths in the src/VORONOI/Makefile.lammps file
-
-5.  Compile LAMMPS (you should know how that works)
-
-== Run tests ==
-
-Run the includes test input file
 ./lmp_serial < lammps/examples/voronoi/in.voronoi | grep '^TEST_'
 
 The output should conclude with 'TEST_DONE' and every line should