National Agricultural Library Annual Institutional Membership Dues

This Sources Sought Notice is being issued for informational purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the USDA, ARS.

ARS is conducting a Market Survey to identify the availability and interest of firms as potential sources for annual institutional membership dues for the National Agricultural Library, located in Beltsville, Maryland.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this project is 813920 (Periodical Publishers) with a Size Standard of $23.5 million.

Background:

The National Agricultural Library (NAL) is mandated (7 U.S.C. 3101) to serve as the primary agricultural information resource of the United States. As a consequence of these activities, NAL is recognized as a major research library in the United States. This research library designation is applicable to about 125 of the over 120,000 libraries in the United States.

Project Scope:

Under this requirement, the Contracting Activity intends to renew annual institutional membership dues.

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 125 research libraries at comprehensive, research institutions in the US and Canada that share similar research missions, aspirations, and achievements. The association conducts a program of identification and member education on a wide range of topics related to information policy and the activities of research libraries. ARL gathers statistics on the activities of its members and develops bench marking and quantitate research tools on library operations. The Association publishes regular reports on trending topics in information policy as well as annual statistical reports. Access to these reports and data is available only to members and delivered via the ARL website. The annual membership fee covers the cost of all publications, reports, training services, and membership meetings.

The Period of Performance is for one base year.

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY. Interested firms are invited to respond to this announcement by providing the following information:

1. Firm’s name, address, point of contact, phone number, and e-mail address.

2. Firm’s level of interest in competing on the solicitation when it is issued.

3. Firm’s Business Size.

NO SOLICITATION EXISTS. THIS REQUEST IS INTENDED ONLY TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL SOURCES. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this sources sought announcement. The deadline to respond to this notice is December 31, 2025. Requested information shall be limited to no more than 2 pages. Interested firms are instructed to submit written responses by e-mail to shane.pope@usda.gov. NO HARD COPY OR FACSIMILE SUBMISSION WILL BE ACCEPTED. Cover letters and extraneous materials (brochures, etc.) will not be considered. No reimbursement will be made for any cost associated with providing information in response to this announcement or any follow-up information provided. All interested sources must respond to future solicitation announcements separately from responses to this market survey.