LCFDL26R0007 Books and NonPrint Materials and Related Support Q and A 2.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 16 KB Posted
- Solicitation number
- LCFDL26R0007
- Issued by
-
Library of Congress
About this file
This is a Questions and Answers document for the LCFDL26R0007 FEDLINK Books & Non-Print Materials and Related Support solicitation. The Q&A addresses 23 substantive inquiries from offerors regarding proposal submission, pricing, and contract requirements.
Key clarifications include: the contract structure consists of a single five-year base period with no option years or extensions; Library of Congress Control Numbers are not required for hardcopy books; for Lot 1, unit pricing may be left blank if unknown, but unit pricing is required for Lots 2 and 3; the FEDLINK sales fee is either 1% of sales or a minimum flat fee (capped at $500 for the first contract year), whichever is higher, with the contractor paying whichever amount is greater annually; digital content access tiers should be listed separately if discounts vary; integrated digital platform features may be presented as included offerings rather than itemized technical processing services; order-level discounts beyond baseline pricing are reflected at the time of order placement, not at the IDIQ level; fuel surcharges should not be itemized on invoices; and pricing information in Attachment J.3 and order-level pricing may be shared with other federal agencies and customers for price estimation purposes. The document also confirms that the solicitation deadline has been extended to March 12, 2026 at 12 p.m. ET, and that offerors will be evaluated on best value tradeoff analysis based on Sections L and M criteria.
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Other files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| LCFDL26R0007 Books and NonPrint Materials and Related Support Q and A 3.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| LCFDL26R0007 0003 3.9.26.pdf | ||
| LCFDL26R0007 0002 3.9.26.pdf | ||
| LCFDL26R0007 Books and NonPrint Materials and Related Support Q and A 1.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| LCFDL26R0007 0001 2.24.26.pdf | ||
| Attachment J.3 - Pricing Pages Template Amendment 0001.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| Attachment J.2 - Past Performance Questionnaire.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment J.3 - Pricing Pages Template.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| Attachment J.6 - FEDLINK Quarterly Books Sales Report.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| Attachment J.5 - Lease Plan Form.pdf | ||
| LCFDL26R0007 2.5.26.pdf | ||
| Attachment J.1 - FEDLINK Monthly Cancellation and Deobligation Report.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| Attachment J.4 - Firm Orders Form.pdf |
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Sheet1
| LCFDL26R0007 Books & Non-Print Materials & Related Support Questions and Answers 2 | |||
| QUESTIONS | ANSWERS | ||
| 1 | For hardcopy books as products, do they need to have a Library of Congress Control number assigned to them in advance? | No, though most published works do apply to receive a LCCN in advance of publication, this is not a requirement. | |
| 2 | While trying to complete Attachment J.3 Lot 2, I am unable to specify processing. The option under types of services is “Other Physical processing options (Specify)”. | ||
| Can you please explain how/where to specify these options? | This Excel error should be fixed and offerors can now input data. | ||
| 3 | On page 6 of document LCFDL26R0007+2.5.26, section Pricing Schedule Requirements: “All products and pricing offered must be associated with the appropriate Contract Line Item Number (CLIN). Offerors shall provide firm-fixed prices for the base and option years. For those offerors that cannot provide firm-fixed pricing beyond the base year, offerors shall indicate a yearly cap on option year prices consistent with industry standards and explain how price cap was determined.” | ||
| • | Does the “base year” mean the first year of the five-year contract or all five years of the contract? | ||
| Language has been updated to reflect the five-year base period with no option periods. Contract Year 1 is the first year of the contract. | |||
| 4 | Are there any optional extensions past the initial 5-year term? | The government is not contemplating an extension beyond the 5-year base term. | |
| 5 | On page 19 of document LCFDL26R0007+2.5.26, section G.2.4. CONTRACTOR SALES FEE: “G.2.4.(a) Sales Fee – Contractor is required to remit a fee of either 1% of sales under the contract or a minimum flat fee. The FEDLINK sales fee reimburses the LC/FEDLINK program for the costs of operating the program including the Books IDIQ contracts and recoups the program’s operating costs. (Reminder: contractors are required to provide a single pricing table (Attachment J.3) which applies to both service models (Transfer Pay and Direct Express)). The fee shall not be itemized as a separate line; the fee shall be included in the contract award price(s) and reflected in the total amount charged to ordering activities.” | ||
| • | How is it determined and who decides if a contractor pays either the 1% fee, or the flat fee? | ||
| • | Is there a maximum amount for the flat fee? | ||
| • | What all is included when determining the fee (1% or flat) – all sales, freight, etc.? | ||
| •For the first contract year, FEDLINK commits to a $500 maximum amount for the minimum flat fee. The minimum flat fee may be reassessed in subsequent contract years. |
• The contractor shall pay either the 1% fee or the flat fee, whichever is higher for the year.
•In accordance with G.2.3.(a), "The Contractor shall report the quarterly dollar value (in U.S. dollars and rounded to the nearest whole dollar) of all sales under their Direct Express and Transfer Pay orders. The dollar value of a sale is the price recorded by the Contractor for products and services ordered by a Customer on a Direct Express or Transfer Pay order. The reported contract sales value must include the FEDLINK sales fee as referenced in section G.2.4."
| 6 | Would the Library of Congress and FEDLINK consider extending the deadline of this Solicitation? | Yes, the solicitation has been extended to March 12, 2026 at 12 pm ET. |
| 7 | In attachment J.3 a unit price is requested in column I. As titles will be sold at publisher list price (less any applicable discount), the price is unknown at this time. Should I leave that column blank, or put in $1.00 as a placeholder? | If unit pricing is unknown for Lot 1, then leave blank. Unit pricing shall be included for Lots 2 and 3. |
| 8 | USA.gov Data Disclosure (Page 27) - The contract states that "the government reserves the right to share detailed pricing information with other U.S. Government Departments and Agencies." Can you clarify: (a) the purpose and intended use of this information sharing, and (b) what specific types of pricing information may be disclosed? | FEDLINK is authorized to provide its services to other federal agencies, tribal governments, the District of Columbia, and organizations authorized to use federal sources of supply. Accordingly, FEDLINK services are available to any library, information center, or other activity within the executive, legislative, or judicial branches of the United States federal government, including all branches of the U.S. armed forces. In some cases, non-governmental entities may use FEDLINK services. |
These entities may utilize FEDLINK Books IDIQ contracts via Transfer Pay or Direct Express, so FEDLINK shares awarded pricing upon request to its customers and potential customers in order for them to create their price estimate for their requirement and to help them ensure they are receiving the correct discounts when they receive their quote from the vendor. The pricing information disclosed is the information in Attachment J.3. Order-level pricing may also be shared with customers.
| 9 | DFARS 252.204-7015 - Notice of Authorized Disclosure for Litigation Support - Under what circumstances would contractor information be disclosed to litigation support contractors under this clause? What types of "sensitive information" could potentially be subject to disclosure? | Please review the language of DFARS 252.204-7015, which addresses the circumstances and types of information that could be subject to disclosure. |
| 10 | Pricing Schedule Requirements (page 6) - Option Years - Can you clarify whether there are option periods under the contract? | "Option years" has been changed to "contract years" as there is one five-year base period with no additional options. |
| 11 | LC52.211-1 Deliveries (APR 2015) (DEVIATION) - Can you please provide a full copy of LC52.21-1 Deliveries (APR 2015) (DEVIATION) | Now included in the solicitation. |
| 12 | Addition of Products/Services (page 24) - Can you please clarify how the requirement "contractor shall offer no products/services other than those specified in the contract unless the contract is modified" will be applied if an offeror proposes the "general subject specialization"? | General subjects cover most leisure reading titles like fiction books, best-sellers, and popular non-fiction books that likely can be found in a typical bookstore or library. A modification would not be needed unless the offeror would like to later offer the more specialized, professional categories of books as listed in Section C. |
| 13 | L.4.1 Contract Format - Please clarify whether the list of clauses in L.4.1 encompass the full list of "all requested fill-in information" required to be completed? | L.4.1. encompasses the full list of requested fill-in information. |
| 14 | On page 61 of document LCFDL26R0007+2.5.26, section Proposal specifications, item 1: “Table of contents. Each volume shall contain a table of contents and a glossary of abbreviations and acronyms.” |
If there are no abbreviations or acronyms, may a proposer leave out the glossary? Or should they include a placeholder and indicate that there are no abbreviations or acronyms?
| If there are no abbreviations or acronyms used in the proposal, the offeror can omit the glossary of abbreviations and acronyms. | |||
| 15 | Reference: C.3.1 and Attachment J.3 – Pricing Pages Template. Section C.3.1 references pricing based on discounts off commercial pricing. Please describe how FEDLINK would like offerors to reflect additional order-level discounts (e.g., volume discounts, enterprise-wide licensing, multi-year institutional agreements) that may be offered beyond the baseline discount listed in Attachment J.3. | Order-level discounts would be reflected at the time the order is being solicited/placed and would not be reflected at the IDIQ-level. | |
| 16 | Reference: C.3.1 and Attachment J.3 – Pricing Pages Template. For digital content where commercial pricing varies by access tier (e.g., single-user, multi-user, unlimited institutional access), please clarify how these tiers should be structured within Attachment J.3. Should each tier be listed separately, or should offerors apply a consistent discount methodology across all tiers? | Tiers should be listed separately if the discounts vary between tiers. | |
| 17 | Reference: C.3.2 and Attachment J.3. 4. | Section C.3.2.1 states that technical processing options shall be priced on a flat, per item basis. For digital platforms where services such as MARC records, metadata support, usage analytics, and discovery integration are provided as part of the platform at no additional charge, how should these services be reflected in Attachment J.3? | They can be listed as no fee. |
| 18 | Reference: C.3.2 and Attachment J.3. 4. Under Lot 2, how does FEDLINK intend for offerors to present ongoing digital platform capabilities such as integrated MARC records, metadata updates, usage analytics, and collection management tools? Specifically, should these services be structured and priced as discrete per-item technical processing services, or may they be presented as integrated platform features included as part of the digital content offering? | They can be listed as integrated platform features if they are not priced out a la carte. | |
| 19 | Reference: C.3.3 and Attachment J.5 – Lease Plan Form. Section C.3.3.2 references “unit price” for leasing plans. For digital subscription-based access models, please clarify how FEDLINK defines “unit” in this context (e.g., per title, per user, per institutional subscription, per collection, or other structure). | Unit price is based on how the vendor defines/prices their services. | |
| 20 | Reference: C.3.3 and Attachment J.5 – Lease Plan Form. Where a digital leasing model allows both temporary subscription access and optional perpetual purchase rights at the end of the term, how should offerors structure this within Attachment J.5 to ensure alignment with FEDLINK’s expectations? | It can be listed as an Option to Purchase CLIN. | |
| 21 | Reference: C.3.3 and Attachment J.5 – Lease Plan Form. 9. | Section C.3.3.3 references shipment and return procedures. For digital leasing models where access is provisioned electronically, how does FEDLINK interpret fulfillment, expiration, and confirmation of return within the context of digital access? | Shipment and return procedures will not apply to electronic/digital acess materials, fullfillment means the member has access to the electronic materials they have ordered (I believe we already answered this in the prelimary Q&A). |
| 22 | Reference: Sections L and M: In evaluating best value under Sections L and M, how does FEDLINK weigh the benefits of aggregated digital platforms that provide access to multi-publisher medical and allied health content through a centralized system, particularly in terms of administrative efficiency and reporting capabilities for member agencies? | Offerors are evaluated against the specific requirements in sections L&M, and the examples listed would fall into the factor of Technical Approach. Services beyond the minimum standards listed in L&M and Section C will be considered in the best value determination. | |
| 23 | Are fuel surcharges allowed to be itemized on invoices? | Fuel surcharges should not be itemized on invoices. See clause LC52.215-5, Place and Period of Performance (JAN 2019) (DEVIATION) and FAR 52.247-34, F.o.b. Destination (JAN 1991). |
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