The main purpose of this study was to undertake a systematic investigationrninto the problems and practices pertaining to the management of primary schoolrntextbooks in Addis Ababa City Administration and thereby to identify the strengthsrnand weaknesses characterizing it and finally conclude by presentingrnrecommendations.rnThe research methodology employed was descriptive survey. A total of 44rnrespondents from the REB and the six Zonal Education Departments as well asrn195 principals, department heads, teachers and storekeepers drawn from 28rnprimary schools were used as data sources. Twelve woreda education officersrnwere also involved. At the REB , Zone and Woreda levels, availability samplingrntechnique was applied. The primary schools were randomly selected, making surernthat they were representatives of the six zones and government, public, private,rnchurch and other types of schools.rnQuestionnaires, interviews, document inspections and visual spot checkingrnwere used to collect the necessary information. Results obtained were analyzedrnby the use of percentage, means, chi- square test, t- test and Spearman's RankrnCorrelation.rnFollowing statistical analysis, results showed that there are noticeablernimprovements in reducing the textbook to pupil ratio as well as giving out the taskrnof writing manuscripts to commissioned writers. However, among the manyrnshortcomings that need timely corrective measures are the inadequacy ofrndistribution systems, inadequate, procedure of textbook development andrnapproval, poor physical quality of textbooks, inefficient and inaccurate informationrnmanagement system, and poor textbook utilization.rnRecommendations for addressing these issues include, among other things,rnformulating a comprehensive textbook policy, guidelines and strategy; building therntextbook management system with the appropriate manpower and capacity; givingrnparticular emphasis to the institutional arrangements and quality controlrnmechanisms; involving all stakeholders in all stages of textbook management;rnshifting from supply-led to demand-led system of textbook provision; involving thernprivate sector in textbook publishing and distribution; and establishing a sense ofrnresponsibility and accountability at all levels.