01 - 030ADV26R0021 - IIR-BAA-2026.pdf

The Library of Congress

Innovator in Residence Program Broad Agency Announcement

02-24-2026

BAA Number: 030ADV26R0021

02/24/2026 1

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

1.1 Background

1.2 Purpose

2. Program Interest Areas

2.1 Interpretation

2.2 Discovery

2.3 Reuse

2.4 Other

3. Program Guidelines

3.1 Schedule

3.2 The Project Selection Process

3.2.1 Step 1: Project Concept Papers

3.2.2 Step 2: Invitation to Submit Project Proposal

3.2.3 Intellectual Property Rights

3.3 Project Concept Paper and Proposal Submission Instructions

3.4 Project Funding

4. Submittal Requirements

4.1 Concept Paper

4.1.1 Cover Page

4.1.2 Vision Statement

4.1.3 Schedule and Price Estimates

4.2 Project Proposal

4.2.1 Cover Page

4.2.2 Volume 1: Technical Proposal

4.2.2.1 Introduction

4.2.2.2 Technical Approach

4.2.2.3 Capabilities, Experience and Past Performance

4.2.3 Volume 2: Price Proposal

4.2.4 Volume 3: Supplemental Information

4.2.4.1 SAM Registration

5. Evaluation and Award Process

5.1 Evaluation Criteria

5.1.1 Project Concept Paper

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5.1.2 Project Proposal

5.2 Award Process

5.2.1 Award Terms and Conditions

5.2.2 Specific Rights Reserved for the Library Under this BAA

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1. INTRODUCTION

The Library of Congress is issuing a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to seek participants for its Innovator in Residence Program.

1.1 Background

The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps, and manuscripts in its collections.

The Library of Congress (Library) established an Innovator in Residence Program (IIR) in 2017 to invite creative people with diverse perspectives and expertise to enable transformational experiences that connect the Library’s digital collections with the American people. The residency is hosted by LC Labs in the Office of the Chief Information Officer’s Digital Strategy Directorate as part of their efforts to demonstrate possibilities of how the Library relates to and enriches the work, life, and imagination of the American people.

The Innovator in Residence (“Resident”) is required to conduct research with Library collections, create a unique digital work that may be hosted on the LC Labs website, host a public program, and serve as an ambassador for the Library during their tenure. The LC Labs team seeks proposals for research and work that connects Library collections to new audiences by promoting insight and inspiration, discovery of Library items, and/or creative remixing and reuse. The selected Resident will have access to both publicly available and on-site only Library collections and will be given program and research support. The work(s) will be displayed on the Library’s websites and/or in public spaces at the discretion of the Library.

1.2 Purpose

The purpose of this BAA is to solicit digital projects that will enable transformational digital experiences for the American public using Library collections. As described below, project selection under this BAA is a two-step process beginning with the submission of a brief, 3-page (including the cover page) concept paper. After review, the Library will invite some applicants to submit full proposals based on their concepts (as described below in Section 4.2). The selected Resident will spend a minimum of 12 months, beginning in September 2026, engaging in research, producing a creative work, and sharing that work with an audience. The award amount of up to $90,000 each year for no more than 2 years, will be paid based on the deliverables and timeline proposed in the project plan. The residency may be extended for a second year pending Library approval and funding availability. This option year should be spent promoting and connecting the Resident’s work and Library resources with communities, continuing research and refinements, additions, or variations on the original concept or work, and creating scaffolding materials for their work to support community interaction. Applicants must include both years in the scope of the concept paper and full proposal to be eligible for a second residency year.

https://labs.loc.gov/

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The selected Resident will enter into a contract with the Library for the duration of the residency. The Library will only contract with individuals, not with organizations or teams.

Teaming arrangements and grants/cooperative agreements will not be issued under this BAA announcement. A Resident is allowed to sub-contract for supplemental labor and expertise. This BAA is limited to individuals who are citizens or permanent residents of the United States. Government employees are not eligible for this program.

Much of the residency can be remote; however, the Resident must spend at least 80 hours cumulatively on site at the Library’s offices in Washington, DC in year one. If the Library restricts access to Library buildings or the Resident’s travel is limited due to a pandemic or for any other reason, this requirement may be waived. Project funding is inclusive of all costs incurred during the residency, including sub-contracted labor, participation honorariums, production supplies, travel to and from the Library and lodging. The selected Resident will consult with LC Labs and other Library staff to inform and receive feedback on their work in progress. The selected Resident will serve as an ambassador for the Library during their term, answering media requests and sharing their experience through social media and blog posts. The selected Resident will articulate tasks with LC Labs and submit deliverables as defined by the project schedule.

The mission of the Library is to engage, inspire, and inform Congress and the American people with a universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity. One of the Library’s primary purposes is to serve the United States Congress. The selected Resident shall demonstrate a high degree of judgement in public communications.

The creative concept for the residency may represent, but is not limited to, the areas of interest outlined in section 2 below.

A. Federal Agency Name:

The Library of Congress (Library)

B. Opportunity Title:

Innovator in Residence Program

C. Broad Agency Announcement Number:

030ADV26R0021

D. Authority:

This BAA is issued under Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 35.016 (c).

This is not a FAR Part 15 Procurement. This BAA is intended to solicit concepts or ideas in accordance with FAR Part 35.016 for projects involving basic applied research to support state-of-the-art IT development (not related to the development of a system or hardware procurement) to increase Library or public knowledge or understanding of the Library collections. Any contract awarded under this BAA shall be for non-personal services in accordance with LCR 7-211.

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2. PROGRAM INTEREST AREAS

The following sections provide information about areas of interest for the Innovator in Residence program.

The digital works inspired both by the Library’s collections and the needs or interests of a specific public audience should tell an engaging story, prompt deeper inquiry, demonstrate a new method of discovering Library items, and/or present free-to-use items and tools to enable creative remixing and reuse. Digital methods and media (such as web applications, visualizations, AR, multimedia works) are required. Media that can be experienced through a web browser are preferred. The digital work may be hosted on the LC Labs website, and applicants should consider accessibility and sustainability (ease of hosting, maintainability, portability) in their design.

All applicants may sub-contract for any type of work during their residency, such as development work, if they do not have the skills or time to execute their concept independently. However, identifying potential sub-contracted individuals or teams will make for a stronger application if subcontracting will be necessary.

Quality concept papers will cite specific Library items or collections to be used in a proposed work. Items used should be both legally and ethically appropriate for the proposed work. For tips on finding digital collections, refer to the Finding-LC-Digital-

Collections.pdf within this announcement package on Sam.gov or https://labs.loc.gov/about/opportunities/innovator-in-residence-program for reference.

Program Area Definitions and Examples of Innovative Uses of the Library’s Collections

The following examples illustrate each program interest area using Library of Congress content. Program areas are not mutually exclusive. Examples listed are meant to suggest possibilities for, rather than limit, proposal concepts. Regardless of program area, all concepts must use Library of Congress collections, include innovative digital methods, result in a digital work, and be designed with a particular audience/community in mind.

Consideration will be made to concept papers that consider non-traditional Library of Congress audiences/communities i.e., those less likely to encounter Library of Congress collection holdings, resources, and services either online or in person. Links to all previous Innovator in Residence works are available at https://labs.loc.gov/about/opportunities/innovator-in-residence-program .

2.1 Interpretation

The Library has long inspired artists to create engaging, thought-provoking, and inspirational pieces from its collections through artistic media of all kinds. The digital work proposed under the Interpretation program area would present a transformational interpretation of a Library of Congress item(s) or collection(s), and/or use research with https://labs.loc.gov/ https://labs.loc.gov/about/opportunities/innovator-in-residence-program

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Library collections to inspire a digital work. It is expected that concepts proposed under this area will represent the personal perspectives of the Resident and will present an editorialized lens to raise awareness of relevant stories, insights, and provocations for their designated audience. It should be clear in the concept paper how the interpretive work would benefit a particular audience and/or community and connect them with Library of Congress collections and services.

For example, 2025-2026 Innovator in Residence Vivian Li created a mobile website experience for audiences around the country to learn about their hometowns through items from the Library’s digital collections. Li worked with Library staff to highlight unique, amusing and awe-inspiring collection items that enabled young people to discover the Library’s vast online resources of their own communities. In addition to Li’s hometown of Seattle, Washington, Anywhere Adventures spotlit Chicago, Illinois and Southeastern Wyoming. The website provided self-guided tours and activities for each location, all culminating in a personalized zine, or digital scrapbook, to share with others.

Li’s concept paper and full proposal are available for reference with the BAA on Sam.gov.

2.2 Discovery

Concepts submitted for this program area shall demonstrate new digital paradigms for finding and using a Library collection or multiple collections.

The following examples are digital applications that have been created by Library and LC Labs residents and fellows. They are shared as representative examples and are meant to neither influence nor limit proposed Resident’s concepts.

2022 Innovator in Residence Jeffrey Yoo Warren created a series of historic Chinatowns using items from the Library of Congress and created a toolkit to teach his process to communities who had also lost vibrant neighborhoods. Yoo Warren employed Saidiya Hartman’s concept of critical fabulation within these 3D models and narratives, adding speculative atmospheric effects and soundscapes to make these virtual representations warmer and more experiential. For direct descendants of these places and the larger Asian American diaspora, these interpretive works were a powerful way of memorializing these places and recontextualizing photographs and maps from the archive.

Applications and visualizations in the LC Labs experiments gallery demonstrate varying attempts to use creative computing (i.e., a computation-aided creative practice) to activate digital collections at the Library of Congress. The suite of applications produced by 2018 Innovator in Residence and data artist Jer Thorp, including “Library of Time” and “Library of Names”, demonstrate serendipitous ways to encounter Library of Congress collections at scale. All applications were made available for other users to remix and reuse for further creative personalization of Library content.

Computer scientist and 2020 Innovator in Residence Benjamin Lee used machine learning to enable discovery across images in historical newspapers at the Library of Congress. For https://labs.loc.gov/work/experiments/anywhere-adventures/ https://labs.loc.gov/work/experiments/anywhere-adventures/ https://labs.loc.gov/work/experiments/anywhere-adventures/ https://labs.loc.gov/work/experiments/ https://labs.loc.gov/work/experiments/innovator-in-residence-jer-thorp/

02/24/2026 7 decades, partners across the United States have collaborated to digitize newspapers through the Library’s Chronicling America website, a database of historical U.S.

newspapers. The text of the newspapers is made searchable by character recognition technology, but users looking for specific images were required to page through the individual issues. Lee addressed this challenge with Newspaper Navigator, an application and dataset that allowed users to search images in the newspapers by visual similarity and download datasets of images by format and year for research and reuse. Lee also published several white papers related to the project for computer science and library communities, including a data archeology that investigated how historical newspapers are “transmuted and decontextualized” during their digitization journey, resulting in erasure and algorithmic bias.

2.3 Reuse

More and more members of the American public are interested in using images, video, and text from the collections for re-mixing and reuse. Concepts in this program area will design a work and/or workshop series that empowers and enables an audience or community to transform free to use digital collection(s) for their art, business, research and/or pleasure.

For example, Citizen DJ is an open-source web-browser application created by Library of Congress 2020 Innovator in Residence Brian Foo. Using some of the Library’s free-to-use audio and moving image collections, Citizen DJ enables users to select short samples to create their own beats and sound mixes. Foo created the work to give generations of artists and producers sounds from the Library’s collections to fuel their creative work and connect their listeners to materials that might otherwise go unremembered. Brian Foo also created a guide to the laws and ethics of digital sampling with historic material.

Created by artist and 2021 Innovator in Residence Courtney McClellan, Speculative Annotation is an open-source dynamic web application and public art project. The app presents a unique mini collection of free-to-use items from the Library for students, teachers, and learners to annotate through captions, drawings, and other types of mark-making. It features a collection of informative, engaging annotations from Library experts and resources on the Library’s website to support further research.

2.4 Other

In the spirit of creativity, innovation, and transformational concepts, applicants can apply with a concept that does not meet one of the prepared program areas above. Concepts qualifying as “Other” must still meet the requirements in this announcement, to include connecting new audiences to Library collections and service through a digital work that supports emerging technologies. Concepts must be designed with a particular audience or community in mind, and preference given to audiences less likely to encounter Library of Congress collection holdings, resources, and services either online or in person.

3. Program Guidelines https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ https://labs.loc.gov/work/experiments/newspaper-navigator/ https://labs.loc.gov/work/experiments/newspaper-navigator/ https://labs.loc.gov/work/experiments/newspaper-navigator/ https://github.com/LibraryOfCongress/newspaper-navigator/blob/master/whitepapers/Newspaper_Navigator_Data_Archaeology.pdf https://citizen-dj.labs.loc.gov/ https://citizen-dj.labs.loc.gov/guide/ https://annotation.labs.loc.gov/48038600 https://annotation.labs.loc.gov/48038600

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This announcement constitutes the public announcement, contemplated by FAR 6.102(d)(2), and no formal Request for Proposals or other solicitation regarding this announcement will be issued.

The Library reserves the right to select for award any, all, part, or none of the proposals received in response to this announcement. This BAA is an expression of interest only and the Library will not pay for any concept paper or proposal preparation costs.

The Library may modify the schedule or areas of interest by amending this BAA. The amendments will be posted on SAM.gov. It is the responsibility of the applicant to be aware of the amendments by regularly checking SAM.gov website.

3.1 Schedule

Issuance Date: 02/24/2026

Informational Webinar Dates: 3/09/2026 - 3pm – 4pm EST

3/16/2026 - 4pm – 5 pm EST

Please register for the webinars on the LC Labs website.

Project Concept Paper Due Dates: 04/10/2026 - 2:00pm EST

Full Proposal Due Dates: Est. 05/2026, invitation only

Award announcement: Est. 8/2026

Contract Begins: Est. 9/2026

A Full Proposal may be submitted only if the applicant received an invitation to submit a proposal based on their concept paper and must be submitted by the Full Proposal due date identified in the invitation.

Questions Questions Due: 03/20/2026 Final Answers Posted: 03/25/2026

Email your questions to Loc-BAA@loc.gov. The email shall include this BAA number (030ADV26R0021) and “BAA Innovator in Residence” in the subject line. Questions received after the questions due date above may not be answered. The Library will provide answers to questions periodically by issuing amendments to this announcement, and will keep a running list of questions and answers at https://labs.loc.gov/about/opportunities/innovator-in-residence-program. Please see the file “BAA-FAQ-2024” for questions from previous searches.

3.2 The Project Selection Process

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Project selection under this BAA is a two-step process beginning with the submission of a brief, 3-page (including the cover page) concept paper. After review, the Library will invite some applicants to submit full proposals based on their concepts. Resources made available under this BAA will depend on the concepts received and the availability of funds.

An example of a concept paper and project proposal from Innovator in Residence Vivian Li is available with this solicitation on SAM.gov. Keep in mind that the program areas have been updated in this round.

3.2.1. Step 1: Project Concept Papers

The first step of the process is the submission and evaluation of project concept papers. As detailed in Section 4 below, the concept paper provides a brief overview of the proposed effort. The Library will use the 3-page concept paper to gauge applicability and interest in the proposed effort. All applicants must submit a concept paper to be considered for award.

Applicants may submit more than one concept paper.

Concept papers must address the content required and be delivered in the format described in Section 4. Concept papers will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria described in Section 5.1.1.

After the submission of the concept paper, the Library may discuss the paper with the applicant to develop or refine project concepts and avoid unnecessary work by either party on projects that are not suitable for this opportunity.

The Library may select for further consideration the concept papers that are determined to provide overall technical value as evaluated pursuant to Section 5.1.1. Some applicants who submit concept papers may not be invited to proceed to Step 2. The Library will notify applicants when a concept paper is not selected to proceed to Step 2.

3.2.2. Step 2: Invitation to Submit Project Proposal

Following the concept paper evaluation and discussion, the Library may invite the applicant to submit a detailed full proposal for award evaluation. Proposals must be prepared and submitted in accordance with Section 4 below. Submissions that are incomplete, materially lacking, or not responsive to the technical requirements of this BAA, may not be evaluated, or may be evaluated as is, without further opportunity for revision, at the Library’s discretion.

Full proposals must address the content required and be delivered in the format described in Section 4. Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria described in Section 5.1.2.

3.2.3. Intellectual Property Rights

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The Library’s intention in this solicitation is that the works created are of maximum benefit to the American people. To that end, the products created because of this BAA (to include the creative work, public event recordings, blog posts and other project documentation) must be delivered to the Library to be made available on loc.gov properties at the Libraries discretion and published under a CC0 1.0 universal license. The applicant must grant the Library and public an irrevocable, fully paid-up, royalty-free, non-exclusive worldwide license to reproduce, distribute, copy, display, create derivative works, and publicly post, link to, and share, the work(s) or parts thereof, for the purpose of promoting the residency, making it accessible to the American people and for any other purpose.

Applicant shall submit information describing intellectual property that will be used in the performance of the contract. In addition, the applicant must describe any limitations on any intellectual property that will affect applicant’s performance of the contract or affect the Library’s (or the public’s) subsequent use of any deliverable under the contract. In particular, the applicant must: describe the intellectual property in sufficient detail, clearly state any limitations, and describe how the Library can use the work with the limitations described or proposed by the applicant. This information must be included in the Project’s Concept Paper and if invited to submit, the Project Full Proposal.

Applicant must provide good faith representations, in writing, that they either own or possess appropriate licensing rights to the intellectual property that will be used for the project. If applicant is unable to make such representation concerning the intellectual property, applicant shall provide a list of the intellectual property needed and explain how the applicant plans to obtain the rights.

3.3 Project Concept Paper and Proposal Submission Instructions

Applicant shall email project concept papers and, upon invitation, proposals to Loc- BAA@loc.gov. The email shall include this BAA number (030ADV26R0021) and “BAA Innovator in Residence” in the subject line no later than the due dates described in Section

3.1 above. The applicant must comply with the submission instructions in this BAA. If the concept paper and proposal does not comply materially with the submission instructions, the Library reserves the right at its discretion to determine the applicant is ineligible for award. Proposals submitted to SAM.gov will not be accepted. The maximum file size allowed through the Library’s email system is 20MB. If needed, applicant may send multiple emails but must ensure they are all clearly identified. Applicant must not submit zipped or locked files.

3.4 Project Funding

Awards resulting from this BAA will be made based on the evaluation results of a two-phased process. The Library reserves the right to fund all, some or none of the proposals submitted, and may elect to fund proposals in part. The Library anticipates funding

02/24/2026 11 proposals up to $90,000 per year, for two years. In addition, the Library reserves the right to create and maintain a list of proposals for potential funding.

Offers considered unresponsive to the Library’s requests for information in a timely manner, which is defined as meeting Library deadlines established and communicated with the request for information, may be removed from further consideration.

4. Submittal Requirements

Concept papers and proposals must be in English, meet the specifications of this BAA and submitted on the dates described in Section 3.1 above.

4.1 Project Concept Paper

Project concept papers shall provide a concise description of the proposed project, organized as defined in the following sections. Concept papers must be no more than three pages in length, including the cover page. Concept paper submissions must not include promotional brochures, advertisements, or extraneous material.

In case of multiple projects from a single applicant, a separate concept paper is required for each project. A project or proposal will not be considered for award without an approved concept paper.

4.1.1 Cover Page

Concept Papers shall include a cover page containing the following information:

° Working title of proposed project ° Applicable Program Interest Area(s) ° Names, phone numbers, and applicant’s email address ° Date of submittal ° Intellectual property rights ° Proprietary data restrictions

4.1.2 Vision Statement

Concept papers shall include a vision statement that describes the creative concept and the envisioned community or audience for the resulting digital work. Consideration will be given to concepts that serve non-traditional Library of Congress audience, i.e., those less likely to encounter Library of Congress collection holdings, resources and services either online or in person. The vision statement should also describe how the concept is transformational for libraries and for the intended audience, as well as any pertinent

02/24/2026 12 influences (individuals, works, schools of thought, personal experiences) that underpin applicant’s concept.

A. Introduction. Applicant must briefly describe (1) the concept for their envisioned digital work, (2) the intended audience for that work, and (3) why it is transformational for both libraries and the intended audience. In addressing these three areas, applicants must provide a statement on how the proposed concept enhances the ability of the Library to meet its goals described in this BAA.

B. Approach and feasibility. Applicant must briefly describe: (1) their research and creative approach, including innovative digital methods used; (2) resources that will be needed to include examples of Library items and/or collections; (3) dependencies and possible risks, such as to the communities that may encounter the work or the communities represented in the selected Library collection; and (4) how they will design for feasibility, accessibility and sustainability (ease of hosting, maintainability, portability) of the digital work. The majority of research for content must be done with Library of Congress collections and/or staff.

C. Capability and Experience. Applicant shall briefly describe (1) their capability in providing the services described, such as those that support the exercise of good judgement in public communications, (2) relevant experience to the proposed project and connecting with the proposed audience of the public work, and, if applicable, (3) any sub-contracted labor required for this work.

4.1.3 Schedule and Price Estimates

Applicant shall provide a brief project schedule and an estimated price for the project, anticipated to be no more than $90,000 per year for a maximum of two years. The schedule should include when work is expected to occur on-site. The Library anticipates that at least 80 hours of on-site work will be needed cumulatively in year one. The unique digital work must be delivered within the first year.

If awarded a second year, applicant will promote and connect their work and Library resources with communities, continue their research, and create scaffolding materials for their work to support community interaction. Work completed in year one cannot be dependent on a second year, which is optional as described above and subject to approval by the Library and availability of funds.

An example of an accepted price proposal from former Innovator in Residence Vivian Li is available with this Announcement on SAM.gov.

4.2 Project Proposal

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Following the review, evaluation and discussions of the concept paper, the Library may invite the applicant to submit a formal full proposal for the project. The Library may discuss the concept with the applicant to develop or refine it in preparation for full proposal submission.

The proposal builds upon the contents of the concept paper, as modified through discussions between the applicant and the Library. Additional content and more detailed information are required in the proposal document, as described in the sections that follow. Proposal documents must be organized in three (3) volumes. Submissions that are incomplete, materially lacking, or not responsive to the technical requirements of this BAA, may be rejected without evaluation, or evaluated as is, without further opportunity for revision, at the discretion of the Library.

The proposal shall be organized in three volumes as follows:

Volume 1: Technical Proposal Introduction Technical Approach Project Plan Capabilities, Experience and Past Performance Volume 2: Price Proposal Volume 3: Supplemental Information SAM Registration Intellectual Property

Applicant is advised that the Library’s evaluation of a project for possible award is based solely on the content of the applicant’s project proposal document, a cursory review of public communications by the applicant and applicant’s answers to any technical clarification questions provided to the Library.

Prior to making an award, the Library reserves the right to perform a review of past performance. Sources of past performance may include the sources provided in the proposal, Contract Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), the Federal Award Performance Integrity System (FAPIIS:SAM.gov) on SAM.gov, and any other sources the Contracting Officer deems relevant.

4.2.1 Cover Page

Project Proposals shall include a cover page containing the following information:

° Working title of proposed project ° Program Interest area(s) ° Applicant’s name, phone number, mailing and email addresses

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° Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) Number issued by SAM.gov after registration or TIN as applicable

° Date of submittal

4.2.2 Volume 1: Technical Proposal

4.2.2.1 Introduction

Applicant must explain how the proposed effort would help the Library meet its goals described in this BAA.

In this section, applicant shall provide the following:

° Describe proposed concept, digital methods and resulting digital work ° Describe the envisioned community and/or audience for the resulting work and the applicant’s expertise or experience in working with members of this community or audience. Consideration will be given to concepts that serve non-traditional Library of Congress users, i.e., those less likely to encounter Library of Congress collection holdings, resources and services either online or in person

° Describe how the project is transformational in connecting users to the Library of Congress o How does the conceptual and technical nature of the work change the way the public encounters Library of Congress item(s), collection(s), and/or ideas and/or stories from Library of Congress item(s) and/or collections? How does it demonstrate new approaches for libraries and archives to engage with patrons?

o How is the concept and resulting work transformative for the envisioned audience?

° Anticipated requirements on Library staff time

The Library will provide a space for the Resident at the Library as needed, as well as administrative and research support. The Resident may receive a Library of Congress email address, laptop, and access to select staff-only platforms if required for their project.

4.2.2.2 Technical Approach

Applicant shall provide a narrative description of work to be performed, organized in the order it is expected to be performed. The technical approach shall include all activities necessary to achieve the desired project results. If the second option year is included in the proposal that work must be included. It must identify and describe research with Library of Congress collections, technical approach and any digital methods and technologies used, deliverables for each milestone including the final digital work, descriptions of any sub-

02/24/2026 15 contracted activities, and any perceived risks to the approach and how they might be mitigated. The technical approach should explain what steps the applicant will take to ensure that works delivered can be shared with the public under a CC0 1.0 universal license as described in section 4.2.4 of this announcement. In addition, it must describe the quality requirements for the project and identify the processes and/or procedures that will be employed to ensure the requirements are satisfied. Quality requirements should include consideration for accessibility, security, and sustainability (ease of hosting, maintainability and portability).

Project Plan

The proposal shall contain a detailed project plan based on the following minimum requirements. All deliverables submitted over the course of the project schedule are subject to the intellectual property rights requirements described in section 3.2.3. of this solicitation.

Project Schedule ° Applicant must sequence the project activities and deliverables into milestones, including estimated completion times (days from project start date) ° The schedule should include when work is expected to occur on-site, at least 80 hours cumulatively in year one.

° Any activities by sub-contractors or collaborators should be described.

° Applicant should include intermediate progress reviews, demonstrations, tests, and/or opportunities for feedback, and periodic reporting activities in the schedule.

° All project deliverables shall be clearly indicated on the project schedule. If applicant is submitting a plan for more than 12 months, deliverables for year one cannot be dependent on year two. Plans cannot exceed 24 months.

° Required deliverables for year one include:

o The unique digital work for hosting and presentation on the LC Labs website

If the work is a web application, it must be “containerized” such that all code and software dependencies are contained within a single package, bundle, or directory that is preferably host or platform agnostic. All hosted digital products must adhere to Library security, accessibility and development standards for hosting.

o Authored text and images for a blog post to be shared on Library of Congress web properties o Descriptions, biographical information and other related materials for two press releases announcing the opening of the residency and the publication of the public work.

o Agenda and supporting presentation materials for public engagement event.

o Periodic reports on work progress for staff.

o Slides or video from two work in progress demonstrations for staff.

o If applicant is proposing a second residency year, required deliverables include:

https://labs.loc.gov/

02/24/2026 16 o Materials designed to increase awareness of the products of the residency and the Library, including agendas for promotional events and supporting presentation materials, text and images for publications, or scripts for Library of Congress videos and media interviews.

o Scaffolding materials that support engagement with the work designed for specific communities or activities such as lesson plans, essays, videos, FAQs, and visuals. Evidence of further research and iteration on the concept, such as refinements or additions to the original work, or further variations on the concept o Periodic reports on work progress for staff

4.2.2.3 Capabilities, Experience, and Past Performance

Applicant shall identify and describe applicant’s capability and experience as it relates to this project. Describe any capabilities and experience that will demonstrate applicant’s ability to successfully conduct the proposed project, connect with the proposed audience for the work, and exercise a high degree of judgement in public communications. If sub-contractors will be engaged, describe their capability and experience as it relates to their role in the project. The proposal shall include up to three examples and references for past relevant efforts describing capabilities, work and significant accomplishments in areas directly associated with proposed interest area or in closely related areas.

4.2.3 Volume 2: Price Proposal

Applicants must provide detailed prices for the deliverables identified in the proposal. For each milestone applicants must provide detailed prices as described in Detailed Budget Workbook – Attachment J-1. The pricing proposal must conform to the requirements in Attachment J-1 and below.

The pricing section of the project proposal shall contain a price for the proposed effort to allow for meaningful evaluation and for the Library to determine that the price is reasonable. The price is not expected to exceed $90,000 per year, for two years. If a future phase beyond 12 months is included, such costs shall be provided as a separately labeled section in Volume 2 (Price Schedule). The firm-fixed price shall account for the entire price of the project. The price shall at a minimum include the following information:

A. Identify the time (weeks, months) projected for each milestone.

B. Travel and materials required to perform each milestone. This information must be included in the firm-fixed price per milestone. Applicant shall propose and implement a project consistent with this requirement. (i.e., the Library will not pay applicant for anything beyond the contract award for any additional items, such as, travel or supplies).

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C. Sub-contracted labor or other costs required to perform each milestone, if appropriate.

4.2.4 Volume 3: Supplemental Information

4.2.4.1 SAM Registration:

To be eligible for award of a contract resulting from this BAA, applicant must be registered in the System for Award Management. Instructions on how to register can be found in Appendix A at the end of this document. This process can take several weeks, so if you are not already registered, you should start that process immediately upon receiving an invitation to submit a full proposal. It is a free process and is necessary for any individual or organization that wants to receive any kind of federal grant or contract. Applicant shall provide confirmation of registration in Volume 3 of proposal.

5. Evaluation and Award Process

5.1 Evaluation Criteria

5.1.1 Project Concept Paper

The Library will conduct a peer review of each concept paper consisting of either solely internal parties (Library Experts) or a combination of internal and external experts (such as Residency alumni). The Peer Review Board will recommend whether to move forward with the project, as well as revisions or additions to the project. There is no predetermined number of times the Peer Review Board will review each concept paper. However, in general all concept papers received prior to the specified due date will be evaluated by the Peer Review Board. The Peer Review Board is not obligated to recommend a concept paper to move forward to Step 2 and the Contracting Officer is not obligated to extend an invitation to every applicant recommended by the Peer Review Board. The Library reserves the right to limit the number of concept papers selected to move forward solely based on efficiency.

Applicants not selected to move forward to Step 2 will be notified, however due to the number of concept papers received, the Library may be unable to provide details on why the concept paper was not selected.

Project concept papers will be evaluated for overall technical importance to the Library’s area(s) of interest. Concept papers will not be evaluated against other concept papers.

Rather, concept papers will be evaluated independently pursuant to the following criteria:

Responsiveness to BAA Objectives and Requirements

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The Library will evaluate the degree to which the proposed concept and resulting work meets the program objectives of the BAA and is responsive to the requirements published in this announcement.

Vision Statement

The Library will evaluate the degree to which the proposed project presents a convincing, transformative, and thoughtful approach to connecting Library of Congress item(s) and/or collections to a specified community, or audience through innovative digital methods. Consideration will be given to concept papers that identify non-traditional Library of Congress audiences, i.e., those less likely to encounter Library of Congress collection holdings, resources and services either online or in person.

Capability and Experience

The Library will evaluate the degree to which the qualifications and experience support successful execution of the proposed project, to include any sub-contracted labor.

5.1.2 Project Proposal

Project proposals must be submitted only by invitation from the Library of Congress.

Proposals will be evaluated solely on the following criteria, as published in this announcement:

Technical Approach

Approach and feasibility: The Library will evaluate the degree to which the proposal provides a reasonable and logical approach to the project, integrates the Library’s area(s) of interest, and provides appropriate reports and deliverables to document progress and outcomes, quality controls and realistic project risk assessment. The Library will assess the reasonableness of the proposed labor hours in relation to projects of similar scope and complexity for the deliverables identified. The Library will assess whether the proposed approach (including intellectual property) reflects a clear understanding of the project goals and Library requirements. The Library will also evaluate the extent to which the proposal will require Library staff time to accomplish and the availability of those resources.

Project Plan

The Library will evaluate the completeness of the project plan in terms of required elements.

Capability, Experience, and Past Performance

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The Library will evaluate the degree of experience and capability demonstrated by applicant and, if applicable, sub-contractors, as these elements relate to the project work and influence the project’s potential for a successful outcome.

The Library may contact any references listed to help with this evaluation.

As the IIR is expected to speak publicly about his or her work on behalf of the Library, the Library will also evaluate the extent to which the applicant has demonstrated a high degree of judgement in public communications.

Price

Project proposals evaluated favorably from a technical perspective, have no outstanding issues or areas of clarification, and are determined to be consistent with the objectives of the BAA and of interest to the Library, will be evaluated for price and the availability of funding.

Price data submitted will be evaluated for reasonableness. The Library will assess the reasonableness of the proposed labor rates and other costs in relation to projects of similar scope and complexity for the deliverables identified.

5.2 Award Process

A proposal must be acceptable under all evaluation factors to be considered eligible for award. Each proposal will be evaluated independently based on the following factors, listed in descending order of importance.

A. Technical Approach B. Capabilities, Experience, and Past Performance C. Price

All non-price factors when combined are significantly more important than price.

5.2.1 Award Terms and Conditions

The Library will provide the terms when the award is identified.

5.2.2 Specific Rights Reserved for the Library under this BAA The Library reserves specific rights, in addition to rights described elsewhere in this document or by law or regulation, including:

A. The right to select for negotiation and award all, some, one, or none of the proposals received in response to this BAA.

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B. The right to make award without discussions, or conduct discussions and/or negotiations, whichever is determined to be in the Library’s interest.

C. The right to accept proposals in their entirety or select only portions of the proposals for award.

D. The right to select for award a contract type that is appropriate for the specific proposal selected for award. This includes standard commercial contracts and Library contracts for technical or professional services. In addition, the Library may create a new contract or instrument type to meet the needs of a specific relationship.

E. The right to request any additional, necessary documentation upon initial review.

Such additional information may include a further detailed concept paper, budget, and representations and certifications.

F. The right to fund concept papers in phases, with options for continued work at the end or one or more of the phases.

G. The right to remove an applicant from award consideration, should the parties fail to reach agreement on award terms, conditions, and price within a reasonable time, the applicant fails to provide requested additional information in a timely manner, or the Library believes it is in its best interest.

H. By participating in the BAA, the applicant agrees that if awarded a Firm-Fixed-Price type contract with milestone payments for deliverables, the Library’s liability for any effort performed shall not exceed the amount obligated under the contract and payments will be made only for accepted deliverables or milestones. The applicant shall propose and implement a program consistent with this requirement.

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APPENDIX A: SAM.gov

Prior to award, successful applicants must be registered on SAM.gov. To do so you must obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number (see detailed description below) by registering in SAM.gov. There is no cost to register with SAM.gov. There are third-party vendors who will charge a fee in exchange for registering entities with SAM.gov; please be aware you can register and request help for free. Award recipients registered in SAM.gov should continue to maintain an active SAM.gov registration with current information through the life of their Federal award(s).

How to register with the System for Award Management (SAM) Select “Get Started” on the section shown below on the landing page on the SAM.gov website to register. You will have to register as an Entity. An Entity on SAM.gov is defined as prime contractors, organizations, or individuals applying for assistance awards. SAM.gov will issue you a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number.

More information on the registration process can be found on the “Help” tab on SAM.gov.

Once registered in SAM.gov, entities must renew and revalidate their SAM registration at least once every 12 months from the date previously registered. To complete the process on SAM.gov, you will need the same kind of information used to obtain your Tax Identification Number (TIN) and other data to complete registration and reporting requirements.