Sole-Source Justification for My Talking Books (RealSAM) Dialog Licenses
Closed Special Notice Posted
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- Solicitation number
- 2027-NLS-0066
- Agency
-
Library of Congress
- Responses due
- Set-aside
- No set-aside
Opportunity facts
- NAICS code
- 541511 Custom Computer Programming Services
- PSC
- 9999 Miscellaneous Items
- Place of performance
- Washington, District of Columbia 20540, United States
- Points of contact
Notice details come from SAM.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The Library of Congress is announcing its intent to award a sole-source, firm-fixed-price IDIQ contract to RealSAM Inc./RealThing.ai for My Talking Books dialog licenses and technical support, with a public notice deadline of August 21, 2026. No competitive solicitation will be issued. The five-year contract, valued above $25,000, runs from December 1, 2026, through November 30, 2031, and covers up to approximately 5,000 new RealSAM dialog licenses with technical support plus continuing support for 5,000 legacy licenses already owned by the National Library Service for the Blind and Print-Disabled (NLS). The Library determined that RealSAM Inc./RealThing.ai is the sole responsible source capable of providing the required technical expertise and cost-effective support, as the company controls the proprietary RealSAM dialog engine and licenses supporting the My Talking Books Amazon Alexa skill. Technical support deliverables include maintenance, system documentation, compliance with applicable laws, and adherence to a Service Level Agreement requiring good-faith resolution of support requests within 72 business hours. The contractor must supply a pricing chart for four hosting scenarios and provide a Project Manager with at least four years of relevant experience and a Technical Support Lead with a bachelor's degree or four years of technical support leadership experience. Mandatory deliverables include a post-award kick-off meeting within ten business days, bi-weekly status reports, and monthly technical support and system maintenance reports. This notice serves as the sole public posting; the Justification and Approval has been published in advance of award.
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 (Library), Contracts and Grants Directorate (CGD), intends to award a sole-source, firm-fixed-price (FFP), indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract to RealSAM Inc./RealThing.ai (1629 K ST NW, STE 300, WASHINGTON, DC 20006). The contract’s work will be performed at the contractor’s facilities.
The intended contract’s period of performance (POP) shall be for five years. It is valued at an amount above both the simplified acquisition threshold (or SAT, defined as $350,000 and below) and public-notice threshold (defined as $25,000 and below). The work shall consist of the following–
The National Library Service for the Blind and Print-Disabled (NLS) requires both (1) up to ~ 5,000 new RealSAM dialog licenses with technical support and (2) continuing support for 5,000 legacy RealSAM dialog licenses that are already owned by the Library. This contract will provide not only the aforementioned additional RealSAM dialog licenses and technical support for legacy RealSAM dialog licenses, but also comprehensive support for all of the Library’s RealSAM dialog licenses. The technical support includes, but is not limited to, maintenance, system documentation, and compliance with applicable laws.
This announcement constitutes 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:
1. Notice of the Library’s intent to award a sole-source contract for this requirement to the business listed herein;
2. Synopsizing the requirements in accordance with the FAR; and
3. Publicly 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 regard to this contracting action.
Finally, the Library shall accept capability statements from other prospective businesses and review them for potential changes to its procurement direction. The Library is not, however, obligated to change directions in this procurement without ample evidence.
Files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| 2027-NLS-0066 SOW.pdf | ||
| 2027-NLS-0066 JA Redacted.pdf |
Notice history
| Notice | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| Sole-Source Justification for My Talking Books (RealSAM) Dialog Licenses | Solicitation | |
| This notice | Special Notice |
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