diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c49851383..548225cc5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -3,10 +3,43 @@ Caffeine
 
 **CoArray Fortran Framework of Efficient Interfaces to Network Environments**
 
-Caffeine is a parallel runtime library that aims to support Fortran compilers with a programming-model-agnostic application interface to various communication libraries.  Current work is on supporting the Parallel Runtime Interface for Fortran (PRIF) with the [GASNet-EX] exascale-ready networking middleware.  Future plans include support for an alternative Message Passing Interface ([MPI]) back end.
+Caffeine is a parallel runtime library that aims to support Fortran compilers
+with a programming-model-agnostic application interface to various
+communication libraries.  Current work is on supporting the Parallel Runtime
+Interface for Fortran (PRIF) with the [GASNet-EX] exascale-ready networking
+middleware.  Future plans include support for an alternative Message Passing
+Interface ([MPI]) back end.
 
 ![Caffeine system stack diagram](https://github.com/BerkeleyLab/caffeine/wiki/img/caffeine-stack.gif)
 
+Statement of need
+-----------------
+
+The Fortran programming language standard added features supporting
+single-program, multiple-data (SPMD) parallel programming and loop
+parallelism beginning with Fortran 2008.  In Fortran, SPMD programming
+involves the creation of a fixed number of images (instances) of a
+program that execute asynchronously in shared or distributed memory, except
+where a program uses specific synchronization mechanisms.  Fortran's
+"coarray" distributed data structures offer a subscripted,
+multidimensional array notation defining a partitioned global address space
+(PGAS).  One image can use this notation for one-sided access to another
+image's slice of a coarray.
+
+Fortran 2018 greatly expanded this feature set to include such concepts as
+teams (groupings) of images, events (counting semaphores), collective
+subroutines and failed-image detection (fault tolerance). Fortran 2023 provided
+additional, minor multi-image extensions, including notified remote data access.
+
+Several popular Fortran compilers, including LLVM `flang` and LFortran, currently
+lack support for multi-image parallel execution. These features are a mandatory
+part of Fortran, and thus are an important part of reaching full compliance with
+the 2008, 2018, or 2023 versions of the Fortran standard.
+
+Caffeine aims to provide a portable, high-performance and open-source parallel
+runtime library that such compilers can target in code generation as part of
+their solution to support Fortran's multi-image parallel features.
+
 Prerequisites
 -------------
 ### Build prerequisites
@@ -48,6 +81,19 @@ export GASNET_PSHM_NODES=8
 FC=<Fortran-compiler-path> CC=<C-compiler-path> CXX=<C++-compiler-path> ./build/run-fpm.sh run --example hello
 ```
 
+Example Usage
+-------------
+The Caffeine parallel runtime is intended as an embedded compilation target
+library, to provide multi-image parallel runtime support to a Fortran compiler.
+As such, real usage of Caffeine is specific to the host Fortran compiler, and
+one should consult compiler-provided documentation regarding the use of Caffeine
+to back multi-image features.
+
+However we provide an [example hello world program](example/hello.F90), 
+written in Fortran, simulating the PRIF calls that a theoretical
+source-to-source Fortran compiler might generate for a simple program written
+using Fortran's multi-image features to print a message from each image.
+
 Run tests
 ---------
 ```