diff --git a/lib/linalg/Makefile.gfortran b/lib/linalg/Makefile.gfortran
index 3ec6cf79a..af0bfd96e 100755
--- a/lib/linalg/Makefile.gfortran
+++ b/lib/linalg/Makefile.gfortran
@@ -1,62 +1,63 @@
 # *
 # *_________________________________________________________________________*
 # *      Minimal BLAS/LAPACK Library for ATC
 
 # To compile and link LAMMPS to the linalg library generated by this Makefile,
 # try appending the following definitions to the standard definitions in
-# whatever LAMMPS Makefile your are using.  
+# whatever LAMMPS Makefile your are using, e.g. in lib/atc/Makefile.lammps
+
 # CCFLAGS =      -I../../lib/linalg
 # LINKFLAGS =    -L../../lib/libalg
 # USRLIB =       -llinalg -lgfortran
 
 SHELL = /bin/sh
 
 # ------ FILES ------
 
 SRC = dasum.f daxpy.f dcopy.f ddot.f dgecon.f dgemm.f dgemv.f dger.f dgetf2.f dgetrf.f dgetri.f dlabad.f dlamch.f dlacn2.f dlange.f dlassq.f dlaswp.f dlatrs.f drscl.f dscal.f dswap.f dtrmm.f dtrmv.f dtrsm.f dtrsv.f dtrti2.f dtrtri.f idamax.f ieeeck.f ilaenv.f iparmq.f lsame.f xerbla.f
 
 
 FILES = $(SRC) Makefile.*
 
 # ------ DEFINITIONS ------
 
 LIB = liblinalg.a
 OBJ =   $(SRC:.f=.o)
 
 # ------ SETTINGS ------
 
 FC =           gfortran
 FFLAGS =      -O3 -march=native -mpc64  \
          -ffast-math -funroll-loops -fstrict-aliasing -Wall -W -Wno-uninitialized -fno-second-underscore
 FFLAGS0 =      -O0 -march=native -mpc64  \
          -Wall -W -Wno-uninitialized -fno-second-underscore
 ARCHIVE =	ar
 AR =	ar
 ARCHFLAG =	-rcs
 USRLIB =
 SYSLIB =
 
 # ------ MAKE PROCEDURE ------
 
 lib: 	$(OBJ)
 	$(ARCHIVE) $(ARFLAGS) $(LIB) $(OBJ)
 
 # ------ COMPILE RULES ------
 
 %.o:%.F
 	$(F90) $(F90FLAGS) -c $<
 
 %.o:%.f
 	$(FC) $(FFLAGS) -c $<
 
 dlamch.o: dlamch.f
 	$(FC) $(FFLAGS0) -c $<
 
 # ------ CLEAN ------
 
 clean:
 	-rm *.o *.mod *~ $(LIB)
 
 tar:
 	-tar -czvf ../linalg.tar.gz $(FILES)
 
diff --git a/lib/linalg/Makefile.mingw_cross b/lib/linalg/Makefile.mingw_cross
index b767d9816..36b5bd580 100755
--- a/lib/linalg/Makefile.mingw_cross
+++ b/lib/linalg/Makefile.mingw_cross
@@ -1,62 +1,63 @@
 # *
 # *_________________________________________________________________________*
 # *      Minimal BLAS/LAPACK Library for ATC
 
 # To compile and link LAMMPS to the linalg library generated by this Makefile,
 # try appending the following definitions to the standard definitions in
-# whatever LAMMPS Makefile your are using.  
+# whatever LAMMPS Makefile your are using, e.g. in lib/atc/Makefile.lammps
+
 # CCFLAGS =      -I../../lib/linalg
 # LINKFLAGS =    -L../../lib/libalg
 # USRLIB =       -llinalg -lgfortran
 
 SHELL = /bin/sh
 
 # ------ FILES ------
 
 SRC = dasum.f daxpy.f dcopy.f ddot.f dgecon.f dgemm.f dgemv.f dger.f dgetf2.f dgetrf.f dgetri.f dlabad.f dlamch.f dlacn2.f dlange.f dlassq.f dlaswp.f dlatrs.f drscl.f dscal.f dswap.f dtrmm.f dtrmv.f dtrsm.f dtrsv.f dtrti2.f dtrtri.f idamax.f ieeeck.f ilaenv.f iparmq.f lsame.f xerbla.f
 
 
 FILES = $(SRC) Makefile 
 
 # ------ DEFINITIONS ------
 
 LIB = liblinalg.a
 OBJ =   $(SRC:.f=.o)
 
 # ------ SETTINGS ------
 
 FC =           i686-pc-mingw32-gfortran
 FFLAGS =      -O3 -march=i686 -mtune=generic -mfpmath=387 -mpc64  \
          -ffast-math -funroll-loops -fstrict-aliasing -Wall -W -Wno-uninitialized -fno-second-underscore
 FFLAGS0 =      -O0 -march=i686 -mtune=generic -mfpmath=387 -mpc64  \
          -Wall -W -Wno-uninitialized -fno-second-underscore
 ARCHIVE =	i686-pc-mingw32-ar
 AR =	i686-pc-mingw32-ar
 ARCHFLAG =	-rcs
 USRLIB =
 SYSLIB =
 
 # ------ MAKE PROCEDURE ------
 
 lib: 	$(OBJ)
 	$(ARCHIVE) $(ARFLAGS) $(LIB) $(OBJ)
 
 # ------ COMPILE RULES ------
 
 %.o:%.F
 	$(F90) $(F90FLAGS) -c $<
 
 %.o:%.f
 	$(FC) $(FFLAGS) -c $<
 
 dlamch.o: dlamch.f
 	$(FC) $(FFLAGS0) -c $<
 
 # ------ CLEAN ------
 
 clean:
 	-rm *.o *.mod *~ $(LIB)
 
 tar:
 	-tar -cvf ../linalg.tar $(FILES)
 
diff --git a/lib/linalg/README b/lib/linalg/README
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a680657aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/linalg/README
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+This directory has BLAS and LAPACK files needed
+by the USER-ATC package (or other packages in the future).
+
+You should only need to build and use the files in this
+directory if you want to build LAMMPS with the USER-ATC package
+and do not have the standard BLAS and LAPACK libraries on your
+system.
+
+Use one of the Makefiles provided to build this library.
+You may need to edit if for your system.
+
+When you are done building this library, one file should
+exist in this directory:
+
+liblinalg.a		the library LAMMPS will link against
+
+You can then include this library and its path in any packages that
+need it, e.g. in the lib/atc/Makefile.lammps file.