Barnes & Noble announced a new promotion this week that should appeal to college students, especially English majors, as they head back to school this fall. 

The promotion provides 12 free ebooks and study tools from SparkNotes--worth around $100, according to the company--when a student purchases any Nook eBook reader. Books include classics such as Beowulf, Crime and Punishment and Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, while SparkNotes includes To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye, among others.

Sasha Norkin, vice president of digital and channel marketing at Barnes&Noble.com says they chose these titles for a reason. "We compiled many classic literature titles found on required reading lists at schools around the country and paired them with some of our leading SparkNotes study materials," he said.

But wait--if that's not enough to convince you to pony up for a Nook for your college student, you can also access content on how to survive at college. This includes NOOK Study's 50 Survival Tips: How to Win at College, 25 Tips for Living Up a Semester Abroad, and 25 Tips for Landing an Internship.

Finally Nook Color purchasers also get access to some exclusive apps.

All in all, a nice deal for students and one that plays to the strengths of the device and encourages students to buy one and keep it in their backpacks, which is a heck of a lot easier than schlepping around a bunch of books.

Barnes & Noble is offering the deal now through September 11th.

For more information:
- see the Barnes & Noble press release

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