diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index ed8e503e7cc80f6268af0bcb88e0feba9915bb70..c102a565197758929920054ea8f0bb4e24690b4d 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -497,6 +497,12 @@ Key references:
         <copy file="build.log.txt" todir="_archive/" overwrite="true" failonerror="false"/>
     </target>
 
+    <target name="help" description="display build directions">
+        <loadfile property="readmeFileContents" srcFile="README.txt" />
+        <echo    message="${readmeFileContents}" />
+        <echo />
+    </target>
+
     <target name="echo.timestamp" description="output current date and time">
         <tstamp>
             <format property="time" pattern="HH:mm:ss"/>