Textbooks provide novice teachers with guidance in course and activity design; it assures a measure of structure, consistency, and logical progression in a class; It meets a learner's needs or expectations of having something concrete to work from and take home for further study; It may provide multiple resources: tapes, CDs, videos, self-study workbooks etc. While the quality of ESL reading textbooks has improved dramatically in recent years, the process of selecting an appropriate text has not become any easier for most teachers and administrators. Thus, the paper discusses the evaluation of reading textbooks for use in ESL/EFL classrooms. Classroom teachers spend much time using textbooks in class, so choosing an appropriate one is important. And the paper describes the role of the textbook. Using this will make the textbook selection process more efficient and more reliable.