CONTACTS:
Mary Ellen Keating
Corporate Communications
Barnes & Noble, Inc.
(212) 633-3323
mkeating@bn.com

Carolyn J. Brown
Corporate Communications
Barnes & Noble, Inc.
(212) 633-4062
cbrown@bn.com

New York, New York – August 9, 2010 - Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC, leading operator of college bookstores and wholly owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller, today announced that it expanded its multi-channel textbook rental program to hundreds of colleges and universities.  The program, which is offered through campus bookstores managed by Barnes & Noble, has already resulted in thousands of students renting their fall textbooks and, by the end of the back-to-school season, will provide millions of higher education students, and their families, significant savings off the high cost of college textbooks.

Barnes & Noble piloted its groundbreaking textbook rental program in January, becoming the first major retailer to offer a multi-channel textbook rental program providing students the option of renting in the campus bookstore’s physical or online store. The response to the pilot program exceeded all expectations, as thousands of students eagerly embraced the textbook rental service. In fact, more than 90% of the participating students surveyed said they liked the program and would rent from their Barnes & Noble campus bookstore again.

Along with delivering savings of more than 50% over the cost of purchasing a new, printed textbook, Barnes & Noble’s rental program contains the features higher education students want most, including:

• The convenience of renting their books either in the campus bookstore or from the bookstore’s Web site, eliminating the need to pay shipping costs or wait for their books to arrive in the mail
• The choice to return their rental textbooks to the campus bookstore or via mail using free return shipping  
• The flexibility to use a wide variety of rental fee payment options, including financial aid and campus debit cards, as well as cash and credit cards 
• The ability to highlight and take notes in their rented books
• The freedom to keep their books for up to 10 days after the last day of finals 
• The comfort of getting automated, reminder e-mails alerting them that the rental period is ending and to return their books to the bookstore

Following the tremendous success of its pilot program, Barnes & Noble moved swiftly to make the rental program available to every school where it manages the on-campus bookstore. Hundreds of schools chose to offer textbook rentals at Barnes & Noble for the fall term – more than double the company’s initial projections – with hundreds more expected to add the service for the winter term.

With the rapid expansion of their rental program, Barnes & Noble has solidified its position as the single source for college students seeking more price and format options for their educational materials. All Barnes & Noble college bookstores carry new, used, custom, and unbundled textbooks, each at different price points. Additionally, all of the company’s campus bookstores offer thousands of eTextbooks, many of which are read using NOOKstudy™ by Barnes & Noble, an innovative new study platform and software solution for higher education. Download or learn more about NOOKstudy at www.nookstudy.com/college.

“We believe the combination of great value, easy access, and convenience has fueled the overwhelmingly positive response to our campus bookstore rental program,” said Jade Roth, Vice President, Books & Digital Strategy for Barnes & Noble College Booksellers. “The addition of rentals means that college students have all the options they want, many at great cost savings, without shopping multiple locations and vendors. Additionally, students can shop with the assurance that they are getting the right book because we work directly with their faculty members. And, of course, they have the added confidence of knowing they are managing their textbook needs through Barnes & Noble, the bookstore they grew up with and trust, located on their campus.” For seven consecutive years, Barnes & Noble has been voted the nation’s top bookselling brand.

For more information on Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, visit www.bncollege.com.