Books and Library Publications Acquisition Services

The Library of Congress (Library) requires contract support to provide Books and Library Publications Acquisition Services under the Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK). In accordance with 2 U.S.C. - 182c (f)(1), the Library is authorized to provide the Books and Library Publications Acquisition Services on behalf of participating Federal Libraries, Federal information centers, other entities of the Federal Government, and the District of Columbia. Libraries and other Federal offices centralize the acquisition of books and library publications through qualified firms in order to reduce the Government's time and labor investment in acquiring information needed to support agency missions. The Contractor shall provide Books and Library Publications Acquisition services from Contractors, publishers, manufacturers, distributors, or producers of non-print firm ordered materials that can supply books and library publications (non-serial publications) and associated acquisition support services to Federal libraries, information centers, and other Federal offices for the FEDLINK program. The Contractor shall also provide a variety of associated services that support the execution and administration of Library acquisitions operations, and the delivery and physical processing of materials. The objective of this requirement is to obtain Contractor support for Books and Library Publications Acquisition Services under the FEDLINK program that includes the following: (1) Firm Orders, (2) Approval Plans, (3) Leasing Plans, and (4) Technical Processing Services. Contractors may provide technical processing only for materials supplied under this contract. Materials covered include books and other publications that are complete in one part or, are intended to be completed in a finite number of separate parts. Varied publishing formats and/or media such as books, electronic books/publications, reports, treatises, encyclopedias, atlases, sound recordings, videotapes, CD-ROMS, audio-visual materials, and reprints are acceptable. Contractors shall supply publications in the customer's choice of the bindings or all formats offered by the publisher, i.e. cloth, paper, or library binding, loose-leaf, hardbound, electronic, or all other issued formats. All materials shall be new and in mint condition. Contractors shall supply the latest edition of all publications unless the customer specifically requests another edition. Most of the publication categories in this solicitation refer to items commonly available in the United States, but some categories, such as foreign press publications, concern non-domestic materials. Unless otherwise specified, Contractors shall supply publications as they are available domestically. Foreign press materials shall be supplied in the requested foreign version. (1)FIRM ORDER SERVICE. Under Firm Order service, contractors will supply publications in response to firm orders from FEDLINK authorized ordering officials. A firm order is a one-time order for a specific title or titles in a specific number of copies. Contractors typically will supply requested materials from in-house stock or acquire items as needed directly from the publisher. Most of the publications categories required refer to items commonly available in the United States, but some categories, such as foreign press publications, concern non-domestic materials. Contractors shall specialize by subject area, format or source of publication and shall identify the types of materials they supply within their specializations. Contractors may specialize in more than one area. For example, a Contractor might specialize in scientific and technical publications and might supply trade, scholarly, textbook, audio-visual, association press and university press materials on sci-tech subjects; or a Contractor might specialize in trade publications in all subject areas except juvenile/young adult; in textbooks in all subject areas; or in foreign press publications on business, scientific, medical, and legal subjects. A Contractor may also specialize in all or any of the areas by providing materials in electronic and digital formats. (2)APPROVAL PLAN SERVICE. Under Approval Plan Services, the Contractor shall automatically supply books and library publications to the customer in accordance with a customer-specific collection ordering profile. Two basic styles of approval plan shall be available: (1) automatic shipments or (2) choice from selection tools. Customers will approve and retain acceptable items, and reject and return those deemed unsuitable for addition to the collection. The contractor shall invoice only for the publications retained. Alternatively, the Contractor may send selection tools (catalogs, descriptive title lists, or notification slips) that list publications within the scope of the customer's profile. From these materials the customer will select items to be shipped, and request the issuance of an order in accordance with the ordering procedures in the contract. All approval plan materials shall be shipped to the customer at the Contractor's expense, but rejected items shall be returned to the Contractor at the Government's expense. The approval profile typically specifies the library's subject focus areas and collection intensity (e.g. comprehensive), and other collection parameters such as format, language, place of publication and price range. Approval plans are intended to improve library efficiency and effectiveness by providing important pre-purchase information concerning new and/or forthcoming titles and eliminating the need for libraries to place individual orders in either routine or esoteric collection areas. (3)LEASING PLAN SERVICE. Under the Leasing Plan Service, the Contractor shall lease or license non-serial publications to customers in response to orders for specific titles or according to a customer profile. The customer leases publications from the supplier instead of buying them, and retains an option to purchase leased items at a reduced price when the term of the lease is over. The term of the lease shall be specified in the FEDLINK Delivery Order. Lease publications shall be supplied in access-ready condition. The leasing plan is a mechanism for a library to expand the resources available to its users by obtaining popular titles as needed, without having to buy multiple copies for the permanent collection. Leasing also extends the shelf life of heavily-used titles. (4)TECHNICAL PROCESSING SERVICES. The Contractor may provide technical processing for materials supplied under the contract, performing physical processing or cataloging to supply materials to the customer in shelf-ready condition for the customer's collection. Extensive physical processing (e.g. format conversion, archival or conservatorial processing) and original cataloging are out of scope of this solicitation. Technical processing options shall be priced on a flat per item basis. The Contractor may also provide collection analysis or assessment, collection development, or collection management tools for the customer or may provide the customer with online access on the vendor's system. The vendor will provide training in its collection analysis/assessment, collection development, or collection management system, as needed. Vendors are responsible for ensuring that all RFP amendments are received prior to submittal of proposals. Please check this site periodically for amendments or clarifications to the RFP. All proposals must be submitted as specified in Section L of the Solicitation. For information about the Library of Congress FEDLINK services, please contact Jim Oliver, FEDLINK Vendor Services Coordinator, at joli@loc.gov The cut-off date for receipt of questions is 4:30 PM, EST, Wednesday, July 13, 2016. Questions must be submitted via e-mail to FLICC-cl@loc.gov; and must reference RFP FEDL16R0002 in the e-mail Subject.