diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index e69de29..206dcbe 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+use std::os;
+use std::io::Command;
+use std::io::process::InheritFd;
+
+/// Compile a library from the given set of input C files.
+///
+/// This will simply compile all files into object files and then assemble them
+/// into the output. This will read the standard environment variables to detect
+/// cross compilations and such.
+///
+/// # Example
+///
+/// ```
+/// gcc::compile_library("libfoo.a", &["foo.c", "bar.c"]);
+/// ```
+pub fn compile_library(output: &str, files: &[&str]) {
+    assert!(output.starts_with("lib"));
+    assert!(output.ends_with(".a"));
+
+    let target = os::getenv("TARGET").unwrap();
+    let opt_level = os::getenv("OPT_LEVEL").unwrap();
+
+    let mut cmd = Command::new(gcc());
+    cmd.arg(format!("-O{}", opt_level));
+    cmd.arg("-c");
+    cmd.arg("-ffunction-sections").arg("-fdata-sections");
+    cmd.args(cflags().as_slice());
+
+    if target.as_slice().contains("i686") {
+        cmd.arg("-m32");
+    } else if target.as_slice().contains("x86_64") {
+        cmd.arg("-m64");
+    }
+
+    let src = Path::new(os::getenv("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR").unwrap());
+    let dst = Path::new(os::getenv("OUT_DIR").unwrap());
+    let mut objects = Vec::new();
+    for file in files.iter() {
+        let obj = dst.join(*file).with_extension("o");
+        run(cmd.clone().arg(src.join(*file)).arg("-o").arg(&obj));
+        objects.push(obj);
+    }
+
+
+    run(Command::new(ar()).arg("crus")
+                          .arg(dst.join(output))
+                          .args(objects.as_slice()));
+    println!("cargo:rustc-flags=-L {} -l {}",
+             dst.display(), output.slice(3, output.len() - 2));
+}
+
+fn run(cmd: &mut Command) {
+    println!("running: {}", cmd);
+    assert!(cmd.stdout(InheritFd(1))
+               .stderr(InheritFd(2))
+               .status()
+               .unwrap()
+               .success());
+
+}
+
+fn gcc() -> String {
+    os::getenv("CC").unwrap_or(if cfg!(windows) {
+        "gcc".to_string()
+    } else {
+        "cc".to_string()
+    })
+}
+
+fn ar() -> String {
+    os::getenv("AR").unwrap_or("ar".to_string())
+}
+
+fn cflags() -> Vec<String> {
+    os::getenv("CFLAGS").unwrap_or(String::new())
+       .as_slice().words().map(|s| s.to_string())
+       .collect()
+}