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Credit Facility - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)
0 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Apr. 29, 2011
Jan. 31, 2015
Jan. 25, 2014
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]      
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding   0us-gaap_LineOfCredit $ 0us-gaap_LineOfCredit
Letters of credit, outstanding amount   67,264,000us-gaap_LettersOfCreditOutstandingAmount 34,363,000us-gaap_LettersOfCreditOutstandingAmount
Amended Credit Agreement      
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]      
Credit facility, borrowing capacity 1,000,000,000us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityMaximumBorrowingCapacity
/ us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis
= bks_AmendedCreditAgreementMember
   
Credit facility maturity term, in years 5 years    
Option to increase in commitments under credit agreement, maximum 300,000,000bks_LineOfCreditPotentialIncreaseAmount
/ us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis
= bks_AmendedCreditAgreementMember
   
Credit facility, expiration date   Apr. 29, 2016  
Percentage of Loan Cap under Amended Credit Agreement 10.00%bks_PercentageOfLoanCapUnderCreditAgreement
/ us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis
= bks_AmendedCreditAgreementMember
   
Amount of Loan Cap under Amended Credit Agreement $ 50,000,000bks_AmountOfLoanCapUnderCreditAgreement
/ us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis
= bks_AmendedCreditAgreementMember