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Net Earnings (Loss) Per Share - Additional Information (Detail)
9 Months Ended
Jan. 25, 2014
Participating Securities  
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]  
Securities excluded from the calculation of earnings per share 2,748,293us-gaap_AntidilutiveSecuritiesExcludedFromComputationOfEarningsPerShareAmount
/ us-gaap_AntidilutiveSecuritiesExcludedFromComputationOfEarningsPerShareByAntidilutiveSecuritiesAxis
= bks_ParticipatingSecuritiesMember
Stock Options  
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]  
Securities excluded from the calculation of earnings per share 40,491us-gaap_AntidilutiveSecuritiesExcludedFromComputationOfEarningsPerShareAmount
/ us-gaap_AntidilutiveSecuritiesExcludedFromComputationOfEarningsPerShareByAntidilutiveSecuritiesAxis
= us-gaap_StockCompensationPlanMember