Barnes & Noble Ranked the Nation’s Top Bookseller Brand by the 2010 EquiTrend® Brand Study by Harris Interactive for the Seventh Consecutive Year

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, today announced that, for the seventh year in a row, the company is the nation’s top bookselling brand. According to the 2010 EquiTrend® Brand Study conducted by Harris Interactive®, Barnes & Noble is the highest ranked bookstore in overall brand equity, which is determined by a combination of the brand’s performance on familiarity, quality, and purchase intent. Barnes & Noble is also highest ranked in overall quality among the nation’s bookstores measured for the third year in a row. Additionally, Barnes & Noble is the number two retailer in trust among all retailers tested for the second year in a row. The study is based on individual responses from more than 20,000 U.S. consumers who were interviewed for this highly respected annual survey.

“We could not be more proud to be recognized for seven years in a row as the nation’s top bookseller brand,” said Steve Riggio, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble, Inc. “This achievement is a direct reflection of our booksellers commitment to our customers.”

ABOUT BARNES & NOBLE, INC.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 723 bookstores in 50 states. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, also operates 639 college bookstores serving nearly 4 million students and over 250,000 faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble is the nation’s top bookseller brand for the seventh year in a row, as determined by a combination of the brand’s performance on familiarity, quality, and purchase intent; the top bookseller in quality for the third year in a row and the number two retailer in trust for the second year in a row, according to the EquiTrend® Brand Study by Harris Interactive®. Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites, which also features hundreds of thousands of titles in its eBookstore (www.bn.com/ebooks). Customers can buy and read eBooks on a wide range of platforms, including nookTM by Barnes & Noble, the iPhone and iPod touch, BlackBerry® smartphones, as well as most Windows® and Mac® laptops or full-sized desktop computers.

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

nookTM is a trademark of Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Methodology

The EquiTrend® study evaluates measures including: Equity, Customer Connection, Commitment, Energy, Brand Behavior, Brand Advocacy, and Trust. The keystone to the program is Equity, which provides an understanding of a brand’s overall strength and is determined by a calculation of Familiarity, Quality, and Purchase Consideration

This year’s EquiTrend® study was conducted online among 19,708 U.S. consumers ages 15 and over between January 12 and 21, 2010. The total number of brands rated was 1,151. Each respondent was asked to rate a total of 60 randomly selected brands. Each brand received approximately 1,000 ratings. Data were weighted to be representative of the entire U.S. population of consumers ages 15 and over on the basis of age sex, education, race/ethnicity, region, and income, and data from respondents ages 18 and over were also weighted for their propensity to be online.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The EquiTrend® study results disclosed in this release may not be used for advertising, marketing or promotional purposes without the prior written consent of Harris Interactive.

For a complete listing of all the brands covered in the study, contact Alyssa Hall at 212-539-9600 or ahall@harrisinteractive.com.

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world’s leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris Interactive specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what’s next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.