Barnes & Noble, Clifton, NJ and Verizon Communications Announce "Season's Readings: One Million Books for One Million Children"

Donate books to chilren in need at your Clifton Barnes & Noble located at 395 Route 3 East, Clifton, NJ starting November 19 - December 31, 2004

Clifton, NJ (PRWEB) November 21, 2004 -- According to the U.S. Department of Education, 61 percent of low-income families have no books at all in their homes for their children. To help put books in the hands of these children, Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the worlds largest bookseller, and Verizon Communications announced a joint program for this holiday season, "Seasons Readings: One Million Books for One Million Children." The program encourages shoppers at Barnes & Noble stores all across the country and online at Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com) to donate childrens books to charities in their community.

Customers at the CLIFTON COMMONS Barnes & Noble simply add a childrens book to their purchases and the store will donate the books to UNITED WAY LITERACY CONNECTION, PASSAIC COUNTY. Customers will find book lists and suggested titles at Barnes & Noble stores and on www.bn.com. Colorful bookmarks will also be available at the stores with more information on "Seasons Readings."

"So many kids right here in Passaic County dont have access to books of any kind," said Leticia Acosta, Community Relations Manager for the Clifton Store. "The holidays are not only a time to receive, but also a time to give. We are so pleased to be working with Verizon and UNITED WAY LITERACY CONNECTION, and hope our customers will donate more books to more of our children."

Verizon will invite their customers to donate to the literacy effort and will provide information about "Seasons Readings" in customer bill messages. In addition, for every Verizon customer who signs up online for Verizon Online DSL service at http://www.verizon.net/millionbooks, Verizon will donate a book to a child on their behalf.

-Donating with "Seasons Readings" is easy:

-Customers can add childrens books to their purchases at Barnes & Noble, Clifton Commons, 395 Route 3 East, Clifton, NJ.

-They can also donate online at Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com/millionbooks) and Verizon Reads (www.verizonreads.net). Shipping on orders of $25 or more will be free of charge.

-Barnes & Nobles Libros en Espaņol section also makes it possible to donate a Spanish-language childrens book to the "Seasons Readings" program.

-Customers will be able to personalize their donations with a bookplate for the recipient.

The "Seasons Readings" program begins Friday, November 19, 2004 and will continue through December 31, 2004. For more information, directions to the store, or to find out how your business or company can make a group donation, contact Leticia Acosta, CRM, Barnes & Noble, Clifton, 973-779-5500.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 839 bookstores in 50 states. For the third year in a row, the company is the nations top retail brand for quality, 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 Webs largest e-commerce sites and the number-one brand among e-commerce companies, according to the latest EquiTrend survey. In addition to its retail operations, Barnes & Noble is one of the largest book publishers in the world. Its subsidiary, Sterling Publishing, publishes over 1,300 new titles a year and has an active list of over 6,000 titles.

General financial information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company's corporate Web site: http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/financials.

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