Barnes & Noble Announces “Buy a NOOK®, We’ll Give a Book,” Inviting Holiday Shoppers to Give the Gift of Reading to Children in Need

Company Pledges to Donate a New Book to First Book for Every NOOK Sold Now through December 25

Brings Digital Reading to Holiday Book Drive, Which Generates Over a Million Book Donations Annually to Thousands of Local Charities Nationwide

NEW YORK--()--Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced its national “Buy a NOOK, We’ll Give a Book” initiative to share the joy of reading this holiday season. Now through December 25, the company will donate one new book to First Book, which provides new books for children in need, for every NOOK tablet or reader purchased in Barnes & Noble stores or online at www.nook.com.

For 20 years, Barnes & Noble’s Holiday Book Drive has resulted in the gift of over a million books annually to thousands of charitable organizations nationwide. Last year alone, Barnes & Noble customers and booksellers donated over 1.2 million books that were distributed to over 2,000 local charities, and the company is on track to exceed that figure this year. “Buy a NOOK, We’ll Give a Book” extends the generous spirit of this annual program and gives customers even more ways to spread the joy of reading and make a difference in the lives of others. Now through December 25, customers shopping in Barnes & Noble stores and online can purchase any NOOK device – including the new stunning NOOK HD® and NOOK® HD+, award-winning NOOK Simple Touch and NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight and critically acclaimed NOOK Tablet and NOOK Color – and the company will match each sale with a new book donation to First Book.

“As the country’s largest bookseller, we are deeply committed to fostering literacy and a love of books and reading. The tremendous success of our Holiday Book Drive is because of our generous customers and booksellers who share that commitment,” said William Lynch, CEO of Barnes & Noble. “With NOOK tablets and e-readers topping many wish lists this year, we wanted to provide a new way for holiday shoppers to share their love of reading. So with every NOOK purchased, on behalf of that customer Barnes & Noble will send a new book to a child in need.”

The perfect holiday gifts this season, Barnes & Noble offers an award-winning line of NOOK tablets and readers for people of all ages and interests. Designed for both personal use and the whole family to share, customers can experience digital reading and entertainment like never before and access over 3 million books, magazines, catalogs, movies, TV shows and more on the new NOOK HD, the lightest and highest-resolution 7-inch tablet, and NOOK HD+, the world’s lightest, lowest priced full HD tablet. NOOK HD is super lightweight and portable, fits easily in one hand and features an unprecedented HD display so customers will want to take it everywhere. For those who want to enjoy reading and entertainment on a larger scale, NOOK HD+ offers a must-see full HD 9-inch display for up to 1080p for movies, magazines and more. NOOK HD is available in two colors, “Snow” and “Smoke,” and starts at $199, and the 9-inch NOOK HD+ is an unbeatable value, starting at just $269.

Barnes & Noble also offers critically-acclaimed E Ink® Readers, NOOK Simple Touch and NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight, starting at just $79 with no annoying ads. NOOK Simple Touch is the easiest-to-use Reader with the world’s best, most paper-like reading screen and longest battery life. NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight adds a patent-pending lighting technology for reading in the dark, so it’s like two devices in one, as amazing at the beach as it is in bed. Both of the lightweight devices feature built-in access via WiFi® to Barnes & Noble’s leading digital catalog and an ergonomic form with a soft-touch back that’s comfortable to hold for hours. Customers can enjoy Always Free NOOK Support in all of Barnes & Noble’s neighborhood bookstores and NOOK Digital Shops where a team of booksellers will be on hand to demonstrate and answer any questions about the NOOK portfolio.

For more information or to participate in the “Buy a NOOK, We’ll Give a Book” initiative, customers can visit www.nook.com/holidaybookdrive or visit the NOOK Digital Shops and displays in any of Barnes & Noble’s nearly 700 bookstores nationwide.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) is a Fortune 500 company and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The company operates 689 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states, and one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites, BN.com (www.bn.com). Its NOOK Media LLC subsidiary is a leader in the emerging digital reading and digital education markets. The NOOK digital business offers award-winning NOOK® products and an expansive collection of digital reading and entertainment content through the NOOK Store™ (www.nook.com), while Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC operates 674 bookstores serving over 4.6 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble is proud to be named a J.D. Power and Associated 2012 Customer Service Champion and is only one of 50 U.S. companies so named. Barnes & Noble.com is ranked the number one online retailer in customer satisfaction in the book, music and video category and a Top 10 online retailer overall in customer satisfaction according to ForeSee E-Retail Satisfaction Index (Spring Top 100 Edition).

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company's corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.

NOOK®, NOOK Store, NOOK Video, NOOK Video Apps are trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc. Other trademarks referenced in this release are the property of their respective owners.

Follow Barnes & Noble on Twitter (www.bn.com/twitter), Facebook (www.facebook.com/barnesandnoble) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/barnesandnoble).

About NOOK Media LLC

NOOK reading and entertainment products make it easy to read what you love, anywhere you like with a fun, easy-to-use and immersive digital reading experience. With NOOK, customers gain access to the expansive NOOK Store of more than 3 million digital books, plus periodicals, comics, apps, movies and TV shows, and the ability to enjoy content across a wide array of popular devices through free NOOK Reading Apps and NOOK Video apps, available at www.nook.com/freenookapps. NOOK owners receive Always Free NOOK Support in any of Barnes & Noble’s nearly 700 bookstores. Find NOOK devices in Barnes & Noble stores and online at www.nook.com, as well as leading retailers including Best Buy, Walmart, Target and many others. NOOK products are available in the United Kingdom through www.nook.co.uk and leading retailers.

For more information on NOOK, follow us on www.twitter.com/nookBN or www.twitter.com/nook_UK and www.facebook.com/nook.

Contacts

Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Mary Ellen Keating, 212-633-3323
Corporate Communications
mkeating@bn.com
or
Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Corporate Communications
Carolyn J. Brown, 212-633-4062
cbrown@bn.com

Contacts

Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Mary Ellen Keating, 212-633-3323
Corporate Communications
mkeating@bn.com
or
Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Corporate Communications
Carolyn J. Brown, 212-633-4062
cbrown@bn.com