Kentucky is one of twenty-four states that rely upon a state adoption process for selecting school textbooks, a procedure that occurs every six years. Publishers' bids are solicited and evaluated by the State Textbook Commission, and the Textbook Selection Criteria Committee for Reading makes recommendations that will be of help to people selecting reading programs. At issue in 1983 was how to develop a set of criteria that would incorporate current information from reading comprehension research, but that would not exclude essentially all of the programs currently on the market. Teachers wanted a guide that would help them select a published reading program that focused on the objectives for which they were to be held accountable. One political consideration that had an immediate impact on the textbook adoption process was that the Kentucky legislature did not appropriate sufficient funds for purchase of all the textbooks approved. Results of a local school district survey showed that many districts were pleased with this development, since they were content with the reading programs they were using and expressed relief that they would not have to undergo the disruptive one- to two-year period of adjustment associated with learning how to implement a new basal program. (Appendix includes guides for evaluating basal reading series.) (NKA)