Library Club attended the North Texas Teen Book Festival in Irving, TX yesterday. This was the club’s second year attending the festival.

Teens can buy books written by various authors and learn about upcoming works. The teens also have the opportunity to engage in a question-and-answer session with authors through themed panels.  

“To find out information about a book that they enjoy, they can actually go into a panel and hear the author talk about a book and ask questions so they can have that one-on-one interaction with the author,” librarian Rachel Epley said. “They can learn about new books that are coming out within the next year, win prizes during raffles and buy different things.”

The festival allows teens to learn about different books and authors that they may have not known. This gives them an opportunity to explore different genres that they may not be familiar with.  

“The purpose is to get students who have worked hard and are good readers and send them to a place where they can be around other readers and meet authors who write popular young adult books that they are familiar with,” Epley said. “The students have to earn points in order to attend [the festival] and can do so by coming to the meetings, bringing food for a party, participating in fundraisers or volunteering in the library [by] cleaning up or working in the library.”