diff --git a/examples/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/CMakeLists.txt
index 7d5453f66d..dcb04ccf4e 100644
--- a/examples/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/examples/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 add_subdirectory(plugin)
+add_subdirectory(simple)
diff --git a/examples/simple/BUILD b/examples/simple/BUILD
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..34583e2eac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/simple/BUILD
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+cc_library(
+    name = "foo_library",
+    srcs = [
+        "foo_library/foo_library.cc",
+    ],
+    hdrs = [
+        "foo_library/foo_library.h",
+    ],
+    deps = [
+        "//api",
+    ],
+)
+
+cc_binary(
+    name = "example_simple",
+    srcs = [
+        "main.cc",
+        "stdout_exporter.h",
+    ],
+    deps = [
+        ":foo_library",
+        "//api",
+        "//sdk/src/trace",
+    ],
+)
diff --git a/examples/simple/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/simple/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4b0ab35f74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/simple/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+add_library(foo_library foo_library/foo_library.cc)
+target_link_libraries(foo_library ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT} opentelemetry_api)
+
+add_executable(example_simple main.cc)
+target_link_libraries(example_simple ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT} foo_library
+                      opentelemetry_trace)
diff --git a/examples/simple/README.md b/examples/simple/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..18d8d9bb34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/simple/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+
+## Building and Running the Simple Trace Example
+
+This example sets up a tracer in the main application then uses a library that is instrumented with Open Telemetry. All telemetry output is directed to stdout.
+
+Install Bazel version 1.2.0 by following the steps listed at https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/install.html
+
+Clone or fork the Open Telemetry C++ repository:
+
+```sh
+git clone https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp.git
+```
+
+Build the example from the root of the opentelemetry-cpp directory using Bazel:
+
+```sh
+cd opentelemetry-cpp/
+bazel build //examples/simple:example_simple
+```
+
+Run the resulting executable to see telemetry from the application as it calls the instrumented library.
+
+```sh
+bazel-bin/examples/simple/example_simple
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/examples/simple/foo_library/foo_library.cc b/examples/simple/foo_library/foo_library.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b92de2397a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/simple/foo_library/foo_library.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#include "opentelemetry/trace/provider.h"
+
+namespace trace = opentelemetry::trace;
+namespace nostd = opentelemetry::nostd;
+
+namespace
+{
+nostd::shared_ptr<trace::Tracer> get_tracer()
+{
+  // Retrieve the global TraceProvider specific in main
+  auto provider = trace::Provider::GetTracerProvider();
+  // Return a Tracer object
+  return provider->GetTracer("foo_library");
+}
+
+void f1()
+{
+  // Create a span using the Tracer returned by the get_tracer() function
+  auto span = get_tracer()->StartSpan("f1");
+}
+
+void f2()
+{
+  auto span = get_tracer()->StartSpan("f2");
+
+  f1();
+  f1();
+}
+}  // namespace
+
+void foo_library()
+{
+  auto span = get_tracer()->StartSpan("library");
+
+  f2();
+}
diff --git a/examples/simple/foo_library/foo_library.h b/examples/simple/foo_library/foo_library.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7ac75c0e50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/simple/foo_library/foo_library.h
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#pragma once
+
+void foo_library();
diff --git a/examples/simple/main.cc b/examples/simple/main.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bea7a51819
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/simple/main.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#include "opentelemetry/sdk/trace/simple_processor.h"
+#include "opentelemetry/sdk/trace/tracer_provider.h"
+#include "opentelemetry/trace/provider.h"
+
+// Using an exporter that simply dumps span data to stdout.
+#include "stdout_exporter.h"
+
+#include "foo_library/foo_library.h"
+
+namespace
+{
+void initTracer()
+{
+  // Specify the exporter: StdoutExporter in this case simply passes all output from the span
+  // processor to stdout
+  auto exporter = std::unique_ptr<sdktrace::SpanExporter>(new StdoutExporter);
+  // Specify the Span Processor: SimpleSpanProcessor forwards all completed spans directly to the
+  // exporter
+  auto processor = std::shared_ptr<sdktrace::SpanProcessor>(new sdktrace::SimpleSpanProcessor(
+      std::move(exporter)));  // Creating a Span Processor given the StdoutExporter defined earlier
+  // Initialize a trace provider with the Span Processor instance defined above
+  auto provider = nostd::shared_ptr<trace::TracerProvider>(new sdktrace::TracerProvider(processor));
+  // Set global trace provider
+  trace::Provider::SetTracerProvider(provider);
+}
+}  // namespace
+
+int main()
+{
+  // Removing this line will leave OT initialized with the default noop
+  // tracer, thus being effectively deactivated.
+  initTracer();
+
+  // Call the instrumented library
+  foo_library();
+}
diff --git a/examples/simple/stdout_exporter.h b/examples/simple/stdout_exporter.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6a58c5b8d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/simple/stdout_exporter.h
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include "opentelemetry/sdk/trace/exporter.h"
+#include "opentelemetry/sdk/trace/span_data.h"
+
+#include <iostream>
+
+namespace trace    = opentelemetry::trace;
+namespace nostd    = opentelemetry::nostd;
+namespace sdktrace = opentelemetry::sdk::trace;
+
+class StdoutExporter final : public sdktrace::SpanExporter
+{
+  std::unique_ptr<sdktrace::Recordable> MakeRecordable() noexcept
+  {
+    return std::unique_ptr<sdktrace::Recordable>(new sdktrace::SpanData);
+  }
+
+  sdktrace::ExportResult Export(
+      const nostd::span<std::unique_ptr<sdktrace::Recordable>> &spans) noexcept
+  {
+    for (auto &recordable : spans)
+    {
+      auto span = std::unique_ptr<sdktrace::SpanData>(
+          static_cast<sdktrace::SpanData *>(recordable.release()));
+
+      if (span != nullptr)
+      {
+        char trace_id[32]       = {0};
+        char span_id[16]        = {0};
+        char parent_span_id[16] = {0};
+
+        span->GetTraceId().ToLowerBase16(trace_id);
+        span->GetSpanId().ToLowerBase16(span_id);
+        span->GetParentSpanId().ToLowerBase16(parent_span_id);
+
+        std::cout << "{"
+                  << "\n  name          : " << span->GetName()
+                  << "\n  trace_id      : " << std::string(trace_id, 32)
+                  << "\n  span_id       : " << std::string(span_id, 16)
+                  << "\n  parent_span_id: " << std::string(parent_span_id, 16)
+                  << "\n  start         : " << span->GetStartTime().time_since_epoch().count()
+                  << "\n  duration      : " << span->GetDuration().count() << "\n}"
+                  << "\n";
+      }
+    }
+
+    return sdktrace::ExportResult::kSuccess;
+  }
+
+  void Shutdown(std::chrono::microseconds timeout = std::chrono::microseconds(0)) noexcept {}
+};
diff --git a/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/exporter.h b/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/exporter.h
index d517c572b2..ec5473edb8 100644
--- a/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/exporter.h
+++ b/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/exporter.h
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ class SpanExporter
    * @param spans a span of unique pointers to span recordables
    */
   virtual ExportResult Export(
-      nostd::span<std::unique_ptr<opentelemetry::sdk::trace::Recordable>> &spans) noexcept = 0;
+      const nostd::span<std::unique_ptr<opentelemetry::sdk::trace::Recordable>>
+          &spans) noexcept = 0;
 
   /**
    * Shut down the exporter.
diff --git a/sdk/src/trace/simple_processor.h b/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/simple_processor.h
similarity index 100%
rename from sdk/src/trace/simple_processor.h
rename to sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/simple_processor.h
diff --git a/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/tracer_provider.h b/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/tracer_provider.h
index 322d2fcb59..d78fed02fc 100644
--- a/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/tracer_provider.h
+++ b/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/tracer_provider.h
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class TracerProvider final : public opentelemetry::trace::TracerProvider
 
 private:
   opentelemetry::sdk::AtomicSharedPtr<SpanProcessor> processor_;
-  opentelemetry::nostd::shared_ptr<opentelemetry::trace::Tracer> tracer_;
+  std::shared_ptr<opentelemetry::trace::Tracer> tracer_;
 };
 }  // namespace trace
 }  // namespace sdk
diff --git a/sdk/src/trace/tracer_provider.cc b/sdk/src/trace/tracer_provider.cc
index 18e3dc99f9..3268207510 100644
--- a/sdk/src/trace/tracer_provider.cc
+++ b/sdk/src/trace/tracer_provider.cc
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ opentelemetry::nostd::shared_ptr<opentelemetry::trace::Tracer> TracerProvider::G
     nostd::string_view library_name,
     nostd::string_view library_version) noexcept
 {
-  return tracer_;
+  return opentelemetry::nostd::shared_ptr<opentelemetry::trace::Tracer>(tracer_);
 }
 
 void TracerProvider::SetProcessor(std::shared_ptr<SpanProcessor> processor) noexcept
diff --git a/sdk/test/trace/simple_processor_test.cc b/sdk/test/trace/simple_processor_test.cc
index ddeba25fe6..b4819aa0ae 100644
--- a/sdk/test/trace/simple_processor_test.cc
+++ b/sdk/test/trace/simple_processor_test.cc
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#include "src/trace/simple_processor.h"
+#include "opentelemetry/sdk/trace/simple_processor.h"
 #include "opentelemetry/nostd/span.h"
 #include "opentelemetry/sdk/trace/span_data.h"
 
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ class MockSpanExporter final : public SpanExporter
   }
 
   ExportResult Export(
-      opentelemetry::nostd::span<std::unique_ptr<Recordable>> &spans) noexcept override
+      const opentelemetry::nostd::span<std::unique_ptr<Recordable>> &spans) noexcept override
   {
     for (auto &span : spans)
     {
diff --git a/sdk/test/trace/tracer_provider_test.cc b/sdk/test/trace/tracer_provider_test.cc
index 8168aeb6ba..90dbe7c747 100644
--- a/sdk/test/trace/tracer_provider_test.cc
+++ b/sdk/test/trace/tracer_provider_test.cc
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #include "opentelemetry/sdk/trace/tracer_provider.h"
+#include "opentelemetry/sdk/trace/simple_processor.h"
 #include "opentelemetry/sdk/trace/tracer.h"
-#include "src/trace/simple_processor.h"
 
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 
diff --git a/sdk/test/trace/tracer_test.cc b/sdk/test/trace/tracer_test.cc
index 99a18ba99d..f1195b3feb 100644
--- a/sdk/test/trace/tracer_test.cc
+++ b/sdk/test/trace/tracer_test.cc
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #include "opentelemetry/sdk/trace/tracer.h"
+#include "opentelemetry/sdk/trace/simple_processor.h"
 #include "opentelemetry/sdk/trace/span_data.h"
-#include "src/trace/simple_processor.h"
 
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class MockSpanExporter final : public SpanExporter
   }
 
   ExportResult Export(
-      opentelemetry::nostd::span<std::unique_ptr<Recordable>> &recordables) noexcept override
+      const opentelemetry::nostd::span<std::unique_ptr<Recordable>> &recordables) noexcept override
   {
     for (auto &recordable : recordables)
     {