LONDON – May 16, 2013 –NOOK Media LLC, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller and leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, announced today that leading UK publishers have donated a selection of top children's titles to support NOOK's efforts to make reading more accessible and affordable across the UK.
The donation is part of NOOK's recent partnership with the London Evening Standard's groundbreaking literacy campaign, Get London Reading. The partnership includes the previously announced donation of 1,000 NOOK® Simple Touch eReaders and supports Beanstalk, a national literacy charity that recruits, vets, trains and supports reading volunteers in schools. The publishers' free content donation was announced today at a Get Reading event featuring the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. To underline his support, the mayor visited St Mary's Catholic Primary School to take part in a NOOK read-along session with schoolchildren.
NOOK has worked with Hachette UK, HarperCollins, Penguin and Random House to contribute the books, which will be loaded onto the 1,000 eReaders that NOOK is donating to reading volunteers from Beanstalk. The titles donated are some of the UK's most popular children's books. The Beanstalk literacy volunteers will use the NOOKs at key schools with high levels of illiteracy across the UK.
Some of the fantastic books being donated include:
From Hachette UK:
- Horrid Henry Reads a Book
- Rainbow Magic – The Rainbow Fairies: 1: Ruby the Red Fairy
- Beast Quest:1 Ferno the Fire Dragon
- Double Crossed
- Boy Nobody
- Secret Kingdom: 1: Enchanted Palace
From HarperCollins:
- Mr. Stink
- The Magician’s Nephew (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 1)
- A Dog Called Homeless
- A Medal for Leroy
- Little Wolf’s Book of Badness
- Iggy and Me (Iggy and Me, Book 1)
- Delphie and the Magic Ballet Shoes (Magic Ballerina, Book 1)
- Monster and Chips (Book 1)
- Paddington Abroad
- Geek Girl
- Look into My Eyes (Ruby Redfort, Book 1)
- Skulduggery Pleasant
From Penguin:
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- The Great Escape
- The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
- Ladybird Classics: Alice in Wonderland
- Mr. Chan, Rocket Man: Genie Street
- Grimms’ Fairy Tales
From Random House:
- Tom’s Sausage Lion
- Ranger’s Apprentice 1: The Ruins of Gorlan
- Gold of Gods
- Doctor Who: Made of Steel
- I Funny
- Big Day Out
- The Dinosaur's Packed Lunch
- The Monster Crisp-Guzzler
- Pea's Book of Best Friends
- Alice Miranda at School
The generous contribution from publishers is part of NOOK's commitment to making reading accessible and more affordable in the UK. In addition, NOOK is offering its eReaders and tablets at special value prices for a limited time only, including the NOOK Simple Touch, at £29 down from £79, and NOOK® Simple Touch GlowLight, at £69 down from £109.
Jim Hilt, Managing Director, Barnes & Noble said: "Our commitment to children and families in the UK is about providing affordable access to digital content in partnership with the leading UK publishers. This is consistent with our belief that it takes everyone in the book business to rally behind the idea of getting young people to read. We came to the UK to be a part of the fabric of the community by creating affordable access to reading and believe that this donation will help us further this campaign."
George Walkley, Head of Digital, Hachette UK said: "We are absolutely delighted to be involved in the Get Reading campaign. We believe that reading is the foundation for a happy and healthy life. Books in every format enhance the lives of children and, as more and more children now read on eReaders, this initiative with NOOK is a very valuable addition to this great campaign."
Victoria Barnsley, CEO and Publisher, HarperCollins UK and International said: "At HarperCollins, we are passionate about extending the joy of reading and have long supported Beanstalk's amazing work promoting literacy in schools. We are delighted to be in partnership with NOOK on this fantastic project to Get Reading."
Francesca Dow, Managing Director of Penguin Children's said: "Penguin has a long history of supporting literacy in the UK, and has given away over eight million books in the last seven years to help children develop their reading skills. We’re pleased that we can bring some of our best-loved titles to a campaign that aims to genuinely engage with and excite young people."
Gail Rebuck, Chair and CEO, The Random House Group said: "Random House has supported Beanstalk for nine years and the Get Reading campaign since its launch in 2011. Today marks a key milestone for the campaign and we have donated 10 fantastic eBooks from authors who are supporting the NOOK partnership including Jacqueline Wilson, James Patterson and Bear Grylls that will capture the imaginations of young people and support Beanstalk volunteers who are working to improve literacy levels in schools across the UK."
As part of the Get Reading initiative, NOOK and the London Evening Standard will host an event, with support from London Mayor Boris Johnson, in the capital's iconic Trafalgar Square on July 13. The free event will see children from all over the UK take part in a giant read-a-thon, led by famous faces. The day will also feature interactive entertainment for the whole family and promises to inspire and get people reading.
For further information on the Get Reading, campaign the Beanstalk charity and NOOK, please visit NOOK.co.uk/GetReading.
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 677 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 678 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 Associates 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).
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