For the second year in a row, Barnes & Noble has won the News-Miner's Reader's Choice award for best bookstore in Fairbanks, Alaska. The paper called the store "more than just a place to buy books" and quoted B&N community business development manager Nicole Galagan, who said, "We really want to be a destination where families and friends can hang out. A place where you can come and grab a coffee, meet with a friend, use our free WiFi." The store also features a large fireplace with many chairs near it, and what the staff calls "the endless bookshelf."
The News-Miner noted, too, that B&N has given back to the community, "attempting to increase literacy and education throughout the state. The store has given more than $80,000 back to the community in the last 2 1/2 years through book fair fundraising programs, along with supporting schools all the way up to the North Slope with textbooks and curriculum."