diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ec38ba9..e976748 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -8,3 +8,10 @@ documentation](http://mjo.tc/atelier/2009/02/arduino-cli.html
 "Documentation") exists.
 
 If you're using Debian or Ubuntu, you can find this in the arduino-core package.
+
+## User Libraries
+
+In order to use Arduino libraries installed in the user's sketchbook folder (the
+standard location for custom libraries when using the Arduino IDE), you need to
+set the `ARDUNIO_SKETCHBOOK` variable to point to this directory. By default it
+is set to `$HOME/sketchbook`.
diff --git a/arduino-mk/Arduino.mk b/arduino-mk/Arduino.mk
index 2d39095..54d2f89 100644
--- a/arduino-mk/Arduino.mk
+++ b/arduino-mk/Arduino.mk
@@ -201,6 +201,14 @@ ARDUINO_LIB_PATH  = $(ARDUINO_DIR)/libraries
 ARDUINO_CORE_PATH = $(ARDUINO_DIR)/hardware/arduino/cores/arduino
 ARDUINO_VAR_PATH  = $(ARDUINO_DIR)/hardware/arduino/variants
 
+ifndef ARDUINO_SKETCHBOOK
+ARDUINO_SKETCHBOOK = $(HOME)/sketchbook
+endif
+
+ifndef USER_LIB_PATH
+USER_LIB_PATH = $(ARDUINO_SKETCHBOOK)/libraries
+endif
+
 endif
 
 ########################################################################
@@ -322,11 +330,17 @@ ECHO    = echo
 
 # General arguments
 SYS_LIBS      = $(patsubst %,$(ARDUINO_LIB_PATH)/%,$(ARDUINO_LIBS))
-SYS_INCLUDES  = $(patsubst %,-I%,$(SYS_LIBS))
+USER_LIBS     = $(patsubst %,$(USER_LIB_PATH)/%,$(ARDUINO_LIBS))
+SYS_INCLUDES  = $(patsubst %,-I%,$(SYS_LIBS)) $(patsubst %,-I%,$(USER_LIBS))
 LIB_C_SRCS    = $(wildcard $(patsubst %,%/*.c,$(SYS_LIBS)))
 LIB_CPP_SRCS  = $(wildcard $(patsubst %,%/*.cpp,$(SYS_LIBS)))
+USER_LIB_CPP_SRC   = $(wildcard $(patsubst %,%/*.cpp,$(USER_LIBS)))
+USER_LIB_C_SRC     = $(wildcard $(patsubst %,%/*.c,$(USER_LIBS)))
 LIB_OBJS      = $(patsubst $(ARDUINO_LIB_PATH)/%.c,$(OBJDIR)/libs/%.o,$(LIB_C_SRCS)) \
-		$(patsubst $(ARDUINO_LIB_PATH)/%.cpp,$(OBJDIR)/libs/%.o,$(LIB_CPP_SRCS))
+		$(patsubst $(ARDUINO_LIB_PATH)/%.cpp,$(OBJDIR)/libs/%.o,$(LIB_CPP_SRCS)) \
+		$(patsubst $(USER_LIB_PATH)/%.cpp,$(OBJDIR)/libs/%.o,$(USER_LIB_CPP_SRCS)) \
+		$(patsubst $(USER_LIB_PATH)/%.c,$(OBJDIR)/libs/%.o,$(USER_LIB_C_SRCS))
+
 
 CPPFLAGS      = -mmcu=$(MCU) -DF_CPU=$(F_CPU) -DARDUINO=$(ARDUINO_VERSION) \
 			-I. -I$(ARDUINO_CORE_PATH) -I$(ARDUINO_VAR_PATH)/$(VARIANT) \
@@ -357,6 +371,14 @@ $(OBJDIR)/libs/%.o: $(ARDUINO_LIB_PATH)/%.cpp
 	mkdir -p $(dir $@)
 	$(CC) -c $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) $< -o $@
 
+$(OBJDIR)/libs/%.o: $(USER_LIB_PATH)/%.cpp
+	mkdir -p $(dir $@)
+	$(CC) -c $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) $< -o $@
+
+$(OBJDIR)/libs/%.o: $(USER_LIB_PATH)/%.c
+	mkdir -p $(dir $@)
+	$(CC) -c $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) $< -o $@
+
 # normal local sources
 # .o rules are for objects, .d for dependency tracking
 # there seems to be an awful lot of duplication here!!!