Braille RNIB Magazines - 2026
Closed Special Notice Posted
- Agency
-
Library of Congress
- Responses due
- Set-aside
- No set-aside
Opportunity facts
- Points of contact
Notice details come from SAM.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The Library of Congress, through its National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS), has published a Special Notice announcing its intent to award a sole-source, firm fixed-price contract to the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) for the production and delivery of braille magazines. This Special Notice was posted on April 7, 2026, and serves as the Library's official public announcement of its decision to forgo competitive bidding and award the contract directly to RNIB. The contract is valued between $25,000 and $250,000 and will have a 12-month period of performance. This announcement fulfills all public notice requirements under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.2 and includes the approved Justification and Approval documentation, eliminating the need for a separate posting after contract award. No additional competitive solicitations will be issued for this requirement.
The Library's objective is to secure twelve distinct braille magazines exclusively produced by RNIB for distribution to over 500,000 blind and print disabled patrons across the United States. The contract encompasses 20,130 total magazine copies annually, including titles such as Braille Chess Magazine, Short Stories, Braille Music Magazine, Braille Conundrum, and multiple other specialized publications delivered on monthly or quarterly schedules. All magazines must be delivered to SeeWriteHear in Scottsdale, Arizona by specified delivery deadlines beginning July 15, 2026. Contractors are not eligible to submit proposals, as RNIB has been determined to be the sole worldwide producer of these specific publications meeting NLS requirements; consequently, no competitive bidding opportunity exists. The contracting officer certified that this sole-source award represents best value to the Government based on fair and reasonable pricing and the unavailability of comparable alternative vendors.
Notice text
This is a public notice prepared in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.2 – Synopsis of Proposed Contract Actions.
The Library of Congress, Contracts and Grants Directorate, intends to award a sole-source firm fixed price contract to: Printed Braille Magazines - RNIB – The Royal British Government. The work to be performed under the contract will be performed at the following location: the British Government shall source the magazines and ship them to the USA.
The period of performance of the intended contract shall run as follows: 12 months. It is valued at an amount below the simplified acquisition threshold (defined as $250,000 and below), but above $25,000 (the public notice threshold). The work shall consist of the following: the creation and production of various braille magazines solely created by RNIB. Then those magazines are shipped to the USA to be distributed to NLS Patrons.
This announcement constitute the only public notice, proposals are not being requested from other parties and a written solicitation will not be issued. This public notice accomplishes the following:
- Notice of the LC’s intent to sole source this requirement to the business listed herein;
- Synopsizing the requirements in accordance with the FAR; and
- Publically posting the approved Justification and Approval (J&A) to the public in advance of the contract award rather than after award. As a result of this, a second posting of the J&A is not required after the award has been made.
As a result of this public posting, this shall be the only notice issued. A separate award notice and a separate J&A posting shall not be performed, as all public information is being accomplished via this public notice.
The following attachments are included in this notice:
Attachment 1: Statement of Work
Attachment 2: Sole Source Justification (Redacted for Public Release)
No further notices shall be pursued at this time in regards to this contracting action.
Files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| A3.3 RNIB 2026 Justification-and-Approval-3.16.26_Redacted.pdf | ||
| A5.5 RNIB 2026-SOW-PWS-edited 3.16.26.docx | DOCX document |
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