NEW YORK (AP) – Book retailer Barnes & Noble is bringing in help to manage its struggling Nook reader in a cost-cutting move that will lay off 99 workers. The changes announced Thursday include turning over responsibility for some of the Nook’s technology to a contractor, Bahwan CyberTek. The hand-off will allow Barnes & Noble to close offices in Santa Clara, California, and Taiwan. That will result in 80 workers losing their jobs in Silicon Valley and another 19 in Taiwan. New York-based Barnes & Noble Inc. expects to save about $13 million annually. Despite the cutbacks, Barnes & Noble says it’s committed to the Nook, an electronic reader released in 2009. Sales of the Nook have fallen 29 percent to $150 million during the first three quarters of Barnes & Noble’s fiscal year.
