Hedgehog INK Bookstore Expands

Hedgehog INK employee Lynne Pallaske puts a book in its place on April 26. This area is the fiction area of the bookstore.

Hedgehog INK, 16 S. Main, had no more space for their books.

Jan and Dick Hedges opened the bookstore in October 2018.

Jan Hedges at the cash register of Hedgehog INK. Masks and sanitizers are available for use to deter the spread of COVID-19. There is also a plastic screen at the cash register.

“We were running out of space for all our books,” Jan Hedges said. “I have wanted a space where I can have author talks, writing groups, reading groups…a space where people can meet for whatever reason.”

So they annexed the back two-story room of the building next door, adjacent to theirs, an approximate 1,200 square foot space, and extended to the back of the current store to make a 9 foot by 16-foot children’s area, she said.

The new space for the children’s area in 9 feet by 16 foot and is located in the rear of the building, just behind the fiction area.

The Hedges started the expansion in January 2021.

“It’s a work in progress,” she said.

Their plan is to start children’s storytime in September, Jan said.

The expanded larger space is for meeting rooms, and the walls are full of research and reference books.

Jan Hedges walks through the new space for non-fiction and history books. It will be the gathering place for future events. This view is from the mezzanine area.

“We were able to save the tin roof and wood floors,” she said. “The building was built in the 1870s.

The tin ceilings are original to the 1870s building.

The Hedgehog INC building, and the one next door, are all owned by Jared Leek, who has remodeled these and several other downtown Fort Scott buildings.