Justification and Approval - Minaret Licenses for Classification Web Plus

The Library of Congress has published a Special Notice announcing its intention to award a sole-source contract for Minaret licenses supporting Classification Web Plus. This Justification and Approval notice (Plan ID: 2026-CDS-0003) was filed on April 15, 2026, with a response deadline of April 30, 2026. The award will be made to Minaret Corporation under the authority of 41 U.S.C. § 6101(b)(2)(C) and FAR 6.302-1, which permits non-competitive procurement when only one responsible source can meet the government's needs. The Library determined that Minaret is the sole capable provider of the required specialized services and software functionality.

The Library of Congress requires Minaret licensing and maintenance services to support its Classification Web Plus subscription database, which provides access to the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), Library of Congress Classification system (LCC), and related vocabularies used throughout the cataloging profession. The contract base period extends from August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027, with four option years potentially extending through July 31, 2031. Minaret Corporation was selected as the exclusive source because it is the only vendor capable of maintaining proprietary software that searches, displays, edits, and prints Library of Congress classification and subject records in MARC format while generating the essential monthly subject and classification lists required by the library community. Prior to this determination, the Library issued a Sources Sought notice on February 13, 2026, and evaluated four vendor responses, none of which demonstrated the required technical capabilities. The contracting officer approved the award on March 31, 2026, after determining prices fair and reasonable based on historical government pricing, with Competition Advocate concurrence for all option periods.