The eight stations are part of The Public Collection, which had its grand opening Thursday afternoon. All of the stations were designed by Indiana-based artists and aim to combine art and literacy.

The Public Collection is the brainchild of Rachel M. Simon and is supported by the Herbert Simon Family Foundation, in partnership with Art Strategies and the Central Indiana Community Foundation. The Indianapolis Public Library supplies books for the project.

The formal ceremony took place on Monument Circle, at the station titled "Monument," by Brian McCutcheon. The area around the station was filled with people, some of them library employees who helped stock the shelves, and others just passing by on their lunch break.

"In middle-income neighborhoods, the ratio of books per child is 13-to-1. In low-income neighborhoods, the ratio is one age-appropriate book for 300 children," said Mindy Taylor Ross of Art Strategies.

Each station is open to the public, free of charge. You can read or browse at the station, borrow a book or share it with a friend and return it to any station at your convenience.

The stations are already having an impact on their communities.

"We had a mom today come up and thank us because a couple of books from the library were Spanish language," said Kimberly Coveney, director of development and communications at the Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center, which houses "The answer is in the question," by Phil O'Malley. The installment consists of two large, movable question marks.

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