Observations of Lithium in red giant stars

Connections between observations of the lithium abundance in various types of red giants and stellar evolution are discussed here. The emphasis is on three main topics; 1) the depletion of Li as stars ascend the red giant branch for the first time, 2) the synthesis of 7 Li in luminous and massive asymptotic giant branch stars via the mechanism of hot-bottom burning, and 3) the possible multiple sources of excess Li abundances found in a tiny fraction of various types of G and K giants.