Five years after its founding by librarian Heather Schubert in partnership with Austin bookstore BookPeople, the Austin Teen Book Festival is changing its name to the Texas Teen Book Festival and collaborating with the Texas Book Festival. The two festivals will be held on back-to-back weekends, with this year’s teen event scheduled to take place at St. Edward’s University on Saturday, October 18. The two-day Texas Book Festival, which is held in and around the State Capitol, will be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 25 and 26.

“It’s invigorating to join forces with the dedicated collaborative that has nurtured this grassroots young adult literary festival to where it is today,” said Lois Kim, executive director of the Texas Book Festival. “With back-to-back festivals, we aim to put books and reading front and center for all Texans this October.”

The teen event has grown considerably since 2009, when 16 authors and 500 YA readers attended. Last year more than 40 authors and four publishers took part in the one-day festival, which included 17 sessions and drew more than 4,000 attendees. Teen festival co-founder and programming partner BookPeople will continue to be an active participant.