When local teen Ashton Lear, won the West Virginia state prize in the Doodle 4 Google contest, she designated her winnings to go to the Shepherdstown library.

“Google contacted me before Ashton did,” said children’s librarian, Christy Hagerty. “I was surprised, but I was so pleased for Ashton. She’s one of the few regular teen patrons that I have. She would ride her bike here every day, get another giant bag of books and ride her bike back home, so I was mostly excited for her.”

The prize money was originally believed to be $500, but actually was $2,500.

Google bought the prizes and had them sent to the library in lieu of sending a check. This means Hagerty had to decide quickly what to purchase that would most benefit the library.

“I had to make some quick decisions,” said Hagerty. “Google wanted a list of things right away. They offered to purchase duplicates, but I told them we’re a small library and don’t have room for that. I was trying to be a savvy shopper and think of what we could do with our limited space.”

Ultimately, Hagerty chose 150 books, mostly young adult titles, and several electronics, including a laptop computer, wireless mouse, wireless speaker, headphones, android tablet and a camera with lots of accessories.

“I’ll probably use the wireless speaker mainly for story time. That way I don’t have to sing all the time,” Hagerty laughed, “I can use my phone to play songs for the kids.”

“The teens can use the laptop too,” Hagerty continued. “I’m hoping they will go online to our Facebook page and give book recommendations. We have another laptop here for the teens in a nice reading nook with a comfy chair. I’m not sure if a lot of them know that we have these resources here. They can even bring their own devices and use our wifi.”

Although Lear was the West Virginia winner, she is still hoping to be selected as the national champion. Voting ended on Monday, and we wish her well.