Barnes & Noble Announces Departure of Larry Zilavy, Executive Vice President of Corporate Finance and Strategic Planning.

NEW YORK -- Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), the world's largest bookseller, today announced that Larry Zilavy, executive vice president of corporate finance and strategic planning, will leave the company to devote more time to his personal investments and philanthropic interests. Mr. Zilavy was promoted to his current position on May 1, 2003.

Mr. Zilavy joined Barnes & Noble in June 2002 as the company's chief financial officer, following a distinguished 25-year career in banking. He was responsible for all corporate finance functions, including all banking and investment-banking relationships and acquisition activities. He oversaw the company's public investments and assisted Leonard Riggio, the chairman of Barnes & Noble, with his governance responsibilities on the boards of Barnes & Noble, Inc., Barnes & Noble.com, and GameStop.

"Larry has done a spectacular job for this company, having helped us complete a series of complex financial transactions all of which strengthened our balance sheet," said Leonard Riggio, chairman of Barnes & Noble, Inc. "His responsibilities will now be handled by Joseph Lombardi, our chief financial officer."

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 840 bookstores in 50 states. For the third year in a row, the company is the nation's top retail brand for quality, according to the EquiTrend(R) Brand Study by Harris Interactive(R). Barnes & Noble conducts its e-commerce business through Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), which is ranked fifth in traffic among retailers with their own Web site, according to Media Metrix, 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.