Do teacher resource centres (TRCs) help to improve learning in schools? Do they result in better quality teaching and learning in the classroom? Between 1997 and 1998 University of Leeds School of Education researchers made an assessment of the effectiveness of TRCs for the Department for International Development as part of a strategy to improve the quality of education in schools in developing countries. Despite the variety of approaches used and services provided, the resource centres appear to make very little contribution to improved teaching and learning in schools. Can they be more effective given a new role?