Barnes & Noble Kicks Off Annual “My Favorite Teacher Contest”

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), the nation’s largest retail bookseller and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced the start of the 2014-2015 “Barnes & Noble My Favorite Teacher Contest,” which provides middle and high school students the opportunity to tell their communities how much they appreciate their teachers.

Students can nominate their teacher by writing essays, poems or thank-you letters that share how their teacher has influenced their life and why they appreciate and admire their teacher. Participating schools collect the essays and submit them to their local Barnes & Noble store for consideration. Entries will be judged on the compelling nature of the teacher’s qualities, the sincerity of the student’s appreciation and the quality of expression and writing.

Teachers from grades 1 through 12 are eligible for nomination. Awards include cash prizes for the teachers and schools, NOOK® devices and more. The contest is broken down into local and regional winners, from which the Barnes & Noble National Teacher of the Year will be chosen.

The local winning teacher will be recognized in the spring at an event at their local Barnes & Noble store, where they will receive a special award acknowledging their achievement and additional recognition and praise from their community. The student who wrote the winning essay or poem will receive a certificate of recognition and also be honored at the ceremony.

Each regional winner will receive a $500 Barnes & Noble Gift Card and a NOOK. From the pool of regional winners, one teacher will be named the Barnes & Noble National Teacher of the Year. The winning teacher will receive $5,000 and the title of “Barnes & Noble My Favorite Teacher of the Year.” The national winner will be recognized at a special community celebration at their local Barnes & Noble store, and the winning teacher’s school will receive $5,000.

“Winning the Barnes & Noble Teacher of the Year felt unbelievable,” said Sarah Morris, the 2014 national winner from Hazelbrook Middle School in Tualatin, OR. “It has truly been the highlight of my teaching career. To have a student articulate in an essay everything I hoped I was accomplishing as a teacher, and then win this title... it's beyond words. I will forever be thankful and honored for the recognition.”

Barnes & Noble has long supported teachers through Educator Appreciation Weeks, special discounts, personalized service, in-store events, bookfairs, store tours for classrooms, and, since 2011, the My Favorite Teacher Contest.

“Teachers are a vital influence in the lives of our children. They deserve all the recognition we can give them,” said Sarah DiFrancesco, Vice President of Business Development for Barnes & Noble. “There’s rarely a dry eye in the audience during a My Favorite Teacher event at Barnes & Noble. There’s nothing more heartwarming than to hear a child read the words they took so much care in crafting about how a special teacher inspired them to reach for their dreams. Our booksellers love this program because it makes such an impact on everyone participating. A bookstore, after all, is much like a school – both are places of learning and aspiration.”

The Barnes & Noble My Favorite Teacher Contest begins September 8, 2014, and ends March 1, 2015. Students who want to participate must submit their essay or poem to their local Barnes & Noble store by March 1. Only middle and high school students and active teachers employed in elementary, middle or high schools in the United States are eligible to win. More details on the contest rules can be found at www.bn.com/myfavoriteteacher.

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 661 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 700 bookstores serving over five million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States.

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