Sole-Source Justification for My Talking Books (RealSAM) Dialog Licenses
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS · CONTRACTS SERVICES
Capture briefs (a one-page, shareable copy of this page) are part of Pro. The CSV here holds the notice, its timeline and past awards.
Where this opportunity stands
Every notice posted under solicitation 2027-NLS-0066 in this department, oldest first.
Next steps for this stage
Standard steps for the notice type; not advice about this buyer.
- Answer the notice: this is when the requirement can still be shaped.
- Contact the contracting officer named on the notice.
- Check who won similar work; they are the likely bidders.
What the notice says
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 acq… (show all)
uisition 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.
Who won similar work
3 award notices on SAM.gov in the last 24 months. Matched by: Same office (CONTRACTS SERVICES), same product/service code (PSC) 9999.
Single-winner award sizes (3): middle half $161K to $250K, median $250K; range $72K to $250K.
| Winner | Awards | Value | Last |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMERICAN PRINTING HOUSE FOR THE BLIND Louisville KY 40206 USA | 1 | $250K | Aug 14, 2026 |
| BACKPORCH BROADCAST CONSULTANTS INC | 1 | $250K | Feb 4, 2025 |
| DIGITAL TRANSITIONS INC. | 1 | $72K | Jan 13, 2026 |
Value counts single-winner awards. "Shared" awards are multiple-award contracts that list every winner with the same total ceiling; that ceiling is not one company's win, so it is not added in. Revenue next to a ticker is the company's last annual revenue from its 10-K.
- Aug 14, 2026AMERICAN PRINTING HOUSE FOR THE BLIND Louisville KY 40206 USA$250KBraille and Tactile Embossing ServicesNo listed company matched (Materiality N/A)
- Jan 13, 2026DIGITAL TRANSITIONS INC.$72KOversized 180-degree Book Imaging SystemNo listed company matched (Materiality N/A)
- Feb 4, 2025BACKPORCH BROADCAST CONSULTANTS INC$250KSpare Parts IDIQ for Indelt Videotape RobotsNo listed company matched (Materiality N/A)
Competitive landscape
For the 3 most frequent past winners above. Lobbying is matched by the company's exact name or exact ticker; agencies are as named on the filings.
- 0 of these past winners lobbied LIBRARY OF CONGRESS since 2024 (0 filings)
- 0 of their lobbyists list a past LIBRARY OF CONGRESS job
- No corporate PAC money from them to the overseeing committees since 2024
- 0 foreign-agent (FARA) registrations
Policy around it
Bills the past winners named while lobbying this agency's issues, rules from the department, and executive orders that name the agency, last 12 months.
- 0 bills named on the past winners' lobbying filings
- 0 rules from the department in the last 12 months
- 0 executive orders naming the agency in the last 12 months
Market
For past winners matched exactly to a listed company. Insider trades are open-market buys and sells (Form 4) in the last 90 days, shown as facts; our own study found insiders do not reliably buy ahead of awards. A sale marked 10b5-1 was made under a trading plan set up in advance.
- 0 of the past winners are listed companies
- 0 insider buys and 0 insider sells at them in the last 90 days
Sources: SAM.gov notices and award notices; Senate LDA lobbying filings; FEC filings; FARA; Federal Register; congress.gov; SEC Form 4. Every row above links to its record.
Companies are matched to tickers by exact name only. A company we could not match shows no market rows; that is a miss, not a finding.