  We present a brief overview of a splinter session on determining the
metallicity of low-mass dwarfs that was organized as part of the Cool Stars 16
conference. We review contemporary spectroscopic and photometric techniques for
estimating metallicity in low-mass dwarfs and discuss the importance of
measuring accurate metallicities for studies of Galactic and chemical evolution
using subdwarfs, creating metallicity benchmarks for brown dwarfs, and
searching for extrasolar planets that are orbiting around low--mass dwarfs. In
addition, we present the current understanding of the effects of metallicity on
stellar evolution and atmosphere models and discuss some of the limitations
that are important to consider when comparing theoretical models to data.
