diff --git a/include/CppLinuxSerial/SerialPort.hpp b/include/CppLinuxSerial/SerialPort.hpp
index 7f4078f..b20dc01 100644
--- a/include/CppLinuxSerial/SerialPort.hpp
+++ b/include/CppLinuxSerial/SerialPort.hpp
@@ -168,6 +168,9 @@ namespace mn {
             /// \throws		CppLinuxSerial::Exception if state != OPEN.
             void ReadBinary(std::vector<uint8_t>& data);
 
+			/// \brief		Use to get number of bytes available in buffer
+            /// \throws		CppLinuxSerial::Exception if state != OPEN.
+            int32_t InWaiting();
         private:
 
             /// \brief		Returns a populated termios structure for the passed in file descriptor.
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 43e5b94..83bdfde 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,7 +6,16 @@ file(GLOB_RECURSE CppLinuxSerial_SRC
 file(GLOB_RECURSE CppLinuxSerial_HEADERS
         "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/include/*.hpp")
 
-add_library(CppLinuxSerial ${CppLinuxSerial_SRC} ${CppLinuxSerial_HEADERS})
+option(SERIAL_BUILD_SHARED_LIBS "Build CppLinuxSerial shared library" OFF)
+
+if (SERIAL_BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
+  set(LibType SHARED)
+else()
+  set(LibType STATIC)
+endif()
+
+add_library(CppLinuxSerial ${LibType} ${CppLinuxSerial_SRC} ${CppLinuxSerial_HEADERS})
+
 
 target_include_directories(CppLinuxSerial PUBLIC "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../include>"
                                                 "$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}/${PROJECT_NAME}>")                                                  
diff --git a/src/SerialPort.cpp b/src/SerialPort.cpp
index 33242c9..5980105 100644
--- a/src/SerialPort.cpp
+++ b/src/SerialPort.cpp
@@ -629,6 +629,15 @@ namespace CppLinuxSerial {
             THROW_EXCEPT(std::string() + __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ + " called while state == OPEN.");
         timeout_ms_ = timeout_ms;
     }
+    
+    int32_t SerialPort::InWaiting() {
+		if(state_ != State::OPEN)
+            THROW_EXCEPT(std::string() + __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ + " called but state != OPEN. Please call Open() first.");
+        int32_t ret = 0;
+        ioctl(fileDesc_, FIONREAD, &ret);
+        return ret;
+        
+    }
 
 } // namespace CppLinuxSerial
 } // namespace mn