diff --git a/examples/COUPLE/README b/examples/COUPLE/README
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d9d787bd7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/COUPLE/README
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+This directory has a C and C++ code that shows how LAMMPS can be
+linked to a driver application as a library.  The purpose is to
+illustrate how another code could perform computations while using
+LAMMPS to perform MD, or how an umbrella code or script could call
+both LAMMPS and some other code to perform a coupled calculation.
+
+c_driver.c     is the C driver
+c++_driver.c   is the C++ driver
+
+The 2 codes do the same thing, so you can compare them to see how to
+drive LAMMPS in this manner.  The C driver is similar in spirit to
+what one could use from a Fortran program or scripting language.
+
+LAMMPS must first be built as a library.  See the "Making LAMMPS"
+section of Section_start.html in the documentation for info on how to
+do this.  Basically, you type something like
+
+make makelib
+make -f Makefile.lib g++
+
+in the LAMMPS src directory to create liblmp_g++.a
+
+You can then build either driver code with a compile line something
+like this, which includes paths to the LAMMPS library interface, MPI,
+and FFTW.
+
+This builds the C++ driver with the LAMMPS library using a C++ compiler:
+
+g++ -I/home/sjplimp/lammps/src -c c++_driver.cpp
+g++ -L/home/sjplimp/lammps/src c++_driver.o \
+    -llmp_g++ -lfftw -lmpich -lpthread -o c++_driver
+
+This builds the C driver with the LAMMPS library using a C compiler:
+
+gcc -I/home/sjplimp/lammps/src -c c_driver.cpp
+gcc -L/home/sjplimp/lammps/src c_driver.o \
+    -llmp_g++ -lfftw -lmpich -lpthread -lstdc++ -o c_driver
+
+You then run c++_driver or c_driver on a parallel machine on some
+number of processors Q with 2 arguments:
+
+mpirun -np Q c_driver P in.lj
+
+P is the number of procs you want LAMMPS to run on (must be <= Q).
+In.lj is a LAMMPS input script.
+
+The driver will launch LAMMPS on P procs, read the input script a line
+at a time, and pass each command line to LAMMPS.  The final line of
+the script is a "run" command, so LAMMPS will run the problem.
+
+The driver then requests all the atom coordinates from LAMMPS, moves
+one of the atoms a small amount "epsilon", passes the coordinates back
+to LAMMPS, and runs LAMMPS again.  If you look at the output, you
+should see a small energy change between runs, due to the moved atom.
+
+The C driver is calling C-style routines in the src/library.cpp file
+of LAMMPS.  You could add any functions you wish to this file to
+manipulate LAMMPS data however you wish.
+
+The C++ driver does the same thing, except that it instantiates LAMMPS
+as an object first.  Some of the functions in src/library.cpp can be
+invoked directly as methods within appropriate LAMMPS classes, which
+is what the driver does.  Any public LAMMPS class method could be
+called from the driver this way.  However the get/put functions are
+only implemented in src/library.cpp, so the C++ driver calls them as
+C-style functions.
diff --git a/examples/COUPLE/c++_driver.cpp b/examples/COUPLE/c++_driver.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ff78e49657
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/COUPLE/c++_driver.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+/* ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+   LAMMPS - Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator
+   www.cs.sandia.gov/~sjplimp/lammps.html
+   Steve Plimpton, sjplimp@sandia.gov, Sandia National Laboratories
+
+   Copyright (2003) Sandia Corporation.  Under the terms of Contract
+   DE-AC04-94AL85000 with Sandia Corporation, the U.S. Government retains
+   certain rights in this software.  This software is distributed under 
+   the GNU General Public License.
+
+   See the README file in the top-level LAMMPS directory.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+// c++_driver = simple example of how an umbrella program
+//              can invoke LAMMPS as a library on some subset of procs
+// Syntax: c++_driver P in.lammps
+//         P = # of procs to run LAMMPS on
+//             must be <= # of procs the driver code itself runs on
+//         in.lammps = LAMMPS input script
+// See README for compilation instructions
+
+#include "stdio.h"
+#include "stdlib.h"
+#include "string.h"
+#include "mpi.h"
+#include "lammps.h"         // these are LAMMPS include files
+#include "input.h"
+#include "atom.h"
+#include "library.h"
+
+using namespace LAMMPS_NS;
+
+int main(int narg, char **arg)
+{
+  // setup MPI and various communicators
+  // driver runs on all procs in MPI_COMM_WORLD
+  // comm_lammps only has 1st P procs (could be all or any subset)
+
+  MPI_Init(&narg,&arg);
+
+  if (narg != 3) {
+    printf("Syntax: c++_driver P in.lammps\n");
+    exit(1);
+  }
+
+  int me,nprocs;
+  MPI_Comm_rank(MPI_COMM_WORLD,&me);
+  MPI_Comm_size(MPI_COMM_WORLD,&nprocs);
+
+  int nprocs_lammps = atoi(arg[1]);
+  if (nprocs_lammps > nprocs) {
+    if (me == 0)
+      printf("ERROR: LAMMPS cannot use more procs than available\n");
+    MPI_Abort(MPI_COMM_WORLD,1);
+  }
+
+  int lammps;
+  if (me < nprocs_lammps) lammps = 1;
+  else lammps = MPI_UNDEFINED;
+  MPI_Comm comm_lammps;
+  MPI_Comm_split(MPI_COMM_WORLD,lammps,0,&comm_lammps);
+  
+  // open LAMMPS input script
+
+  FILE *fp;
+  if (me == 0) {
+    fp = fopen(arg[2],"r");
+    if (fp == NULL) {
+      printf("ERROR: Could not open LAMMPS input script\n");
+      MPI_Abort(MPI_COMM_WORLD,1);
+    }
+  }
+
+  // run the input script thru LAMMPS one line at a time until end-of-file
+  // driver proc 0 reads a line, Bcasts it to all procs
+  // (could just send it to proc 0 of comm_lammps and let it Bcast)
+  // all LAMMPS procs call input->one() on the line
+  
+  LAMMPS *lmp;
+  if (lammps == 1) lmp = new LAMMPS(0,NULL,comm_lammps);
+
+  int n;
+  char line[1024];
+  while (1) {
+    if (me == 0) {
+      if (fgets(line,1024,fp) == NULL) n = 0;
+      else n = strlen(line) + 1;
+      if (n == 0) fclose(fp);
+    }
+    MPI_Bcast(&n,1,MPI_INT,0,MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+    if (n == 0) break;
+    MPI_Bcast(line,n,MPI_CHAR,0,MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+    if (lammps == 1) lmp->input->one(line);
+  }
+
+  // run 10 more steps
+  // get coords from LAMMPS
+  // change coords of 1st atom
+  // put coords back into LAMMPS
+  // run a single step with changed coords
+
+  if (lammps == 1) {
+    lmp->input->one("run 10");
+
+    int natoms = static_cast<int> (lmp->atom->natoms);
+    double *x = new double[3*natoms];
+    lammps_get_coords(lmp,x);          // no LAMMPS class function for this
+    double epsilon = 0.1;
+    x[0] += epsilon;
+    lammps_put_coords(lmp,x);          // no LAMMPS class function for this
+    delete [] x;
+
+    lmp->input->one("run 1");
+  }
+
+  if (lammps == 1) delete lmp;
+
+  // close down MPI
+
+  MPI_Finalize();
+}
diff --git a/examples/COUPLE/c_driver.c b/examples/COUPLE/c_driver.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5b80815160
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/COUPLE/c_driver.c
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+/* ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+   LAMMPS - Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator
+   www.cs.sandia.gov/~sjplimp/lammps.html
+   Steve Plimpton, sjplimp@sandia.gov, Sandia National Laboratories
+
+   Copyright (2003) Sandia Corporation.  Under the terms of Contract
+   DE-AC04-94AL85000 with Sandia Corporation, the U.S. Government retains
+   certain rights in this software.  This software is distributed under 
+   the GNU General Public License.
+
+   See the README file in the top-level LAMMPS directory.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+/* c_driver = simple example of how an umbrella program
+              can invoke LAMMPS as a library on some subset of procs
+   Syntax: c_driver P in.lammps
+           P = # of procs to run LAMMPS on
+               must be <= # of procs the driver code itself runs on
+           in.lammps = LAMMPS input script
+   See README for compilation instructions */
+
+#include "stdio.h"
+#include "stdlib.h"
+#include "string.h"
+#include "mpi.h"
+#include "library.h"        /* this is a LAMMPS include file */
+
+int main(int narg, char **arg)
+{
+  /* setup MPI and various communicators
+     driver runs on all procs in MPI_COMM_WORLD
+     comm_lammps only has 1st P procs (could be all or any subset) */
+
+  MPI_Init(&narg,&arg);
+
+  if (narg != 3) {
+    printf("Syntax: c_driver P in.lammps\n");
+    exit(1);
+  }
+
+  int me,nprocs;
+  MPI_Comm_rank(MPI_COMM_WORLD,&me);
+  MPI_Comm_size(MPI_COMM_WORLD,&nprocs);
+
+  int nprocs_lammps = atoi(arg[1]);
+  if (nprocs_lammps > nprocs) {
+    if (me == 0)
+      printf("ERROR: LAMMPS cannot use more procs than available\n");
+    MPI_Abort(MPI_COMM_WORLD,1);
+  }
+
+  int lammps;
+  if (me < nprocs_lammps) lammps = 1;
+  else lammps = MPI_UNDEFINED;
+  MPI_Comm comm_lammps;
+  MPI_Comm_split(MPI_COMM_WORLD,lammps,0,&comm_lammps);
+
+  /* open LAMMPS input script */
+
+  FILE *fp;
+  if (me == 0) {
+    fp = fopen(arg[2],"r");
+    if (fp == NULL) {
+      printf("ERROR: Could not open LAMMPS input script\n");
+      MPI_Abort(MPI_COMM_WORLD,1);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /* run the input script thru LAMMPS one line at a time until end-of-file
+     driver proc 0 reads a line, Bcasts it to all procs
+     (could just send it to proc 0 of comm_lammps and let it Bcast)
+     all LAMMPS procs call lammps_command() on the line */
+
+  void *ptr;
+  if (lammps == 1) lammps_open(0,NULL,comm_lammps,&ptr);
+
+  int n;
+  char line[1024];
+  while (1) {
+    if (me == 0) {
+      if (fgets(line,1024,fp) == NULL) n = 0;
+      else n = strlen(line) + 1;
+      if (n == 0) fclose(fp);
+    }
+    MPI_Bcast(&n,1,MPI_INT,0,MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+    if (n == 0) break;
+    MPI_Bcast(line,n,MPI_CHAR,0,MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+    if (lammps == 1) lammps_command(ptr,line);
+  }
+
+  /* run 10 more steps
+     get coords from LAMMPS
+     change coords of 1st atom
+     put coords back into LAMMPS
+     run a single step with changed coords */
+
+  if (lammps == 1) {
+    lammps_command(ptr,"run 10");
+
+    int natoms = lammps_get_natoms(ptr);
+    double *x = (double *) malloc(3*natoms*sizeof(double));
+    lammps_get_coords(ptr,x);
+    double epsilon = 0.1;
+    x[0] += epsilon;
+    lammps_put_coords(ptr,x);
+    free(x);
+
+    lammps_command(ptr,"run 1");
+  }
+
+  if (lammps == 1) lammps_close(ptr);
+
+  /* close down MPI */
+
+  MPI_Finalize();
+}
diff --git a/examples/COUPLE/in.lj b/examples/COUPLE/in.lj
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..98de6750b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/COUPLE/in.lj
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# 3d Lennard-Jones melt
+
+units		lj
+atom_style	atomic
+atom_modify	map array
+
+lattice		fcc 0.8442
+region		box block 0 4 0 4 0 4
+create_box	1 box
+create_atoms	1 box
+mass		1 1.0
+
+velocity	all create 1.44 87287 loop geom
+
+pair_style	lj/cut 2.5
+pair_coeff	1 1 1.0 1.0 2.5
+
+neighbor	0.3 bin
+neigh_modify	delay 0 every 20 check no
+
+fix		1 all nve
+
+run		10
+