Description: This work has been prepared in response to a request by UNESCO for a study on the current state of Brazilian research on school textbooks for basic education. The objectives stated in the request were: (1) to provide information regarding book publishing policies in Brazil aimed at promoting quality education for all; and (2) to open up new horizons for research in this field. Two different exploratory studies were undertaken, which were seen as two ways of prospecting the field of research: · A general description of scientific and academic production in Brazil, in the period from 1975 to 2003, in terms of distribution based on variables such as volume, period, type of production, circulation, area of knowledge and work theme; · A description and analysis, based on a more limited number of research projects, of government policies with regard to school textbooks and, within the more general framework of policies aimed at quality education for all, of their effects on: o The behaviour of the school textbook sector within the broader context of publishing in Brazil; o The behaviour of teachers in the selection and choice of textbooks. This paper exposes some results of the second exploratory study. Methodology: We have tried in this study to include all the data and results relating to studies on public textbook policies in the country, covering the period from 1996 to 2002. The 1996 starting point was chosen in light of the profound changes that took place in those policies in that initial year. The end date, on the other hand, is derived from the fact that the available data and studies do not extend beyond 2002. An effort has also been made to gather and to include data and information on national policies. Even though states and municipalities can develop their own policies independently, for various reasons they are for the time being, to a greater or lesser degree, linked to the policies of the Federal Government. Conclusions: While the nature of the Ministry of Education's policy with regard to textbooks has undergone steady change since the beginning, it was the creation of the PNLD - The National School Textbook Programme - in 1985 which laid down the main guidelines which have determined the State's approach to textbooks. These guidelines are based on five key points: (i) centralization of planning, purchasing and distribution; (ii) exclusive use of federal resources; (iii) action restricted to the purchase of books, with no participation in the area of publishing, which is left to private enterprise; (iv) selection of books by the school community; (v) distribution of books free of charge to students and teachers. Results of different studies shows that, on the one hand, the policies implemented through changes introduced in the PNLD¾even though they were not directed at the private school market¾in practice constituted general policies for managing school textbook production and circulation, and through those, for intervening in the management of curricula. On the other hand, the data show that the expectations and interests of teachers whem they choose textbooks differ substantially from those used in the assessment process promoted by the Ministry.