How can we define the “criminal justice system”? What is it, where is it, and what are all of the things that it does?

For the Circulation Desk, five books explore the stuff that binds us together in infrastructure networks public and private, old and new.

Shannon Mattern takes us inside two examples of the extensive, yet relatively invisible, infrastructures that drive New York's libraries and explains how their logistical systems shape our physical, political, and intellectual landscapes.

In the latest installment of their Crisis Fronts degree project, Michael Chen and Jason Lee ask students to use the specific urban challenges of the Bronx to investigate the intersection between public policy and speculative design.

Adam Greenfield maps the flows and processes of an Occupy Sandy relief hub to demonstrate the potential of a permanent mutual-aid infrastructure for New York.

A book about the Internet's physical infrastructure inspires a closer look at how fiber optic cables are woven — literally — into the city's fabric.

Joshua Nelson explains how freight rail works in New York, reflecting on rail's environmental and economic advantages as well as its role in getting potatoes to your local market.

Carter Craft and Christina Sun explain how the use of short-distance, waterborne freight transport can improve the health, efficiency and landscape of New York City.