The chemistry textbook provides not only relevant content, but also introduces students to the culture of chemistry. That culture is changing and so are students. Textbooks need to respond to this changing world. Research on how students learn and how they use learning materials such as textbooks can give us insight into what form these materials can and should take. Recent chemical education research that is relevant to textbook development and usage will be presented and new trends and technologies that may impact textbook usage in the future will be discussed.