Solicitation
Creative Exhibit Design Services
Library of Congress
AI summaryThe Library of Congress wants a museum exhibit design firm for its upcoming Comics changing exhibit in the SW Gallery, about 3,700 SF, plus promotional graphics. No set-aside is used, so any business can bid. The price is firm-fixed-price (one set price, whatever the work ends up costing), for work from December 15, 2026 to June 21, 2028, in Washington, DC. Proposals go by email, not SAM.gov, and are due November 16, 2026, 12:00 PM Eastern. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
The notice looks incomplete: Solicitation 030ADV27R0010.pdf was only partly read: the rest of the statement of work and most of Sections D through K (key personnel, deliveries, insurance, security, clauses) are attached but not read. Attachment J-1, the 160-page AOC Design Standards, was also only partly read. Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
The Library of Congress wants a museum exhibit design firm for its upcoming Comics changing exhibit in the SW Gallery, about 3,700 SF, plus promotional graphics. No set-aside is used, so any business can bid. The price is firm-fixed-price (one set price, whatever the work ends up costing), for work from December 15, 2026 to June 21, 2028, in Washington, DC. Proposals go by email, not SAM.gov, and are due November 16, 2026, 12:00 PM Eastern.
Who can bid (4)
- At least five completed exhibition projects of at least 1,000 sq ft, done as the main contractor (not a subcontractor) for major museums or cultural institutions comparable to the Library, within the last eight years
- At least one such project of at least 3,500 sq ft, also within the last eight years
- Projects must be distinct projects with active performance by your firm, not sections of one project
Show all 4Show fewer
- Active SAM.gov registration before the contract is issued
How to submit: Email to Olexiy Levchuk (olevchuk@loc.gov), with copies to Moji Adejuwon (moad@loc.gov) and Ramon Samuel (rsamuel@loc.gov); proposals sent through SAM.gov are not accepted. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (10)
From the version posted Oct 20, 2026.
- Serious: Strict past-project minimums. Proposals that don't show the required five projects plus one of 3,500 sq ft or more, all within eight years as prime contractor, can be rated unacceptable before anything else is read.
- Worth checking: Proposals by email only, with size limits. Offers sent through SAM.gov are rejected, and each email is capped at 20MB with no zipped files or file-sharing links.
- Worth checking: Customers must return past performance forms themselves. You must send the questionnaire to every customer you list, and their replies must reach the Library directly by the response due date.
Show all 10Show fewer
- Worth checking: Every deliverable must be priced. Attachment J-3 lists each deliverable with a due date; leaving any priced line blank can make the proposal unacceptable.
- Worth checking: Closeout date falls after the period of performance ends. The price schedule puts the final closeout package due July 31, 2028, but the period of performance ends June 21, 2028; ask the contracting officer which governs.
- Worth checking: Pre-design field report timing doesn't line up with the site visit. The schedule lists the Pre-Design Field Report among deliverables due December 18, 2026, but the site visit is held no less than one month after kick-off.
- Minor: Start-up deliverables due December 18, 2026. The first set of deliverables is due three days after the December 15, 2026 start of the period of performance.
- Minor: Fabrication budget given only after award. Designs must fit a target fabrication budget the contracting officer's representative (COR, the Library's day-to-day contact) shares at the kick-off meeting.
- Minor: Key personnel resumes required. Resumes for the key personnel named in Section C must go in the Management Approach and are scored.
- Minor: Prototype testing with 20 or more people. Schematic design includes functional prototypes tested with people of different ages, which adds cost and scheduling work.
Read from the notice and 4 attachments. Show which files.
- Solicitation 030ADV27R0010.pdf (read)
- Attachment J-1 AOC Design Standards 2-26-2018 (160 Pages).pdf (read)
- Attachment J-3 - Deliverables Price Schedule 10-5-26 (4 Pages).docx (read)
- Attachment J-2 - Past Performance Questionnaire 10-5-2026 (2 Pages).docx (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Full-service design of the Comics changing exhibit: 3D and 2D graphic design, case layouts for the first display plus one rotation (about 75-100 objects), and lighting design
- Phased design work: start-up and planning, three concept designs, schematic design, design development, then final design, each with a cost estimate
- Promotional graphics: one brochure, one poster for the CVC tunnel, one poster for the Madison Kiosk (could be the same design), two SEG banner graphics, and three website graphics
- Recommend a media strategy (video, interactive, audio) that fits the Library's audiovisual (AV) systems; AV integration and media production are a separate contract
- Test prototypes of unique elements with no fewer than 20 participants during schematic design and report the results
- Deliver final digital artwork and production-ready artwork files for the Library's fabricator, plus rotation deliverables
- Support fabrication and installation: review shop drawings and samples, answer questions, and help build the punch list; new casework is built under separate contracts
- Library gives written feedback within five business days; the contractor makes requested design changes within ten business days
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price (FFP): one set price, whatever the work ends up costing
- Period of performance
- Base period December 15, 2026 to June 21, 2028; no options appear in the part of the solicitation that was read
- Place of performance
- Washington, DC, USA (the Library's SW Gallery)
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- How they'll choose
- Best value trade-off under FAR Part 13. Minimum Requirements are checked first; offers that meet them are then rated on the factors below, and all non-price factors combined are significantly more important than price.
- Offers due
- November 16, 2026, 12:00 PM Eastern
- How to submit
- Email to Olexiy Levchuk (olevchuk@loc.gov), with copies to Moji Adejuwon (moad@loc.gov) and Ramon Samuel (rsamuel@loc.gov); proposals sent through SAM.gov are not accepted
What they'll judge offers on
- Minimum Requirements (pass or fail): five qualifying projects plus one of at least 3,500 sq ft, as described in Section L
- Technical Approach: understanding of the requirement, creativity and feasibility of the approach, and the comprehensiveness of the work plan
- Management Approach: organization chart and staffing plan, key personnel resumes, subcontractor management if any, and handling of multiple commitments and challenges
- Corporate Experience: creativity of past projects and how they increased patron engagement, for work of similar size, scope and complexity
- Past Performance: customer questionnaires and possibly Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) records
- Price: reasonableness of each deliverable's price and the total price
What to include when you submit
- Put solicitation number 030ADV27R0010 in the email subject line. Each email can carry at most 20MB; you may split the proposal across clearly labeled emails. No zipped or locked files and no links to file-sharing sites.
- Send two separate volumes in Microsoft Office or Adobe formats: Volume 1 Technical Proposal (no pricing) and Volume 2 Price Proposal
- Each volume must show the solicitation number, your name, mailing address, telephone number, Unique Entity ID (UEI, your SAM.gov business ID) and a point of contact with phone and email
- Format: 8.5 x 11 inch pages, single-spaced, 1-inch margins, Times New Roman 12 point; no hyperlinks to outside information
- Volume 1 sections: Minimum Requirements, Technical Approach (answer each Statement of Work paragraph in order, with a work plan), Management Approach, Corporate Experience, and Past Performance
- Minimum Requirements: give a narrative summary and visuals for at least five completed projects as the main contractor (not a subcontractor), each at least 1,000 sq ft, plus at least one of at least 3,500 sq ft, all for major museums or cultural institutions comparable to the Library and within the last eight years
- For each of those projects give the project description, the services you provided, the total contract dollar amount, and the dates of performance
- Corporate Experience: for each project give the name, description of services, customer name and address, period of performance and dollar amount, and describe how your services increased patron engagement
- Management Approach: include an organization chart with titles and responsibilities, and resumes for Key Personnel as described in Section C
- If you plan to use subcontractors, describe the work they will do, give their recent relevant projects from the last eight years, and explain how you will manage them
- Send the Past Performance Questionnaire (Attachment J-2) to the customer on every project you list; customers must email it back directly to the Library by the response due date. Late forms, or forms sent in by the offeror, are not accepted.
- Volume 2: give a firm-fixed price in Section B and a price for every deliverable on Attachment J-3 (Deliverables Price Schedule); partial pricing may make the proposal unacceptable
- Include a signed and dated copy of the Standard Form 1449 (SF 1449, the form you sign and return as your offer) and any Standard Form 30 (SF 30, the form that amends a solicitation)
- Complete the Representations and Certifications in Section K
Not in the notice text
- Solicitation 030ADV27R0010.pdf was only partly read: the rest of the statement of work and most of Sections D through K (key personnel, deliveries, insurance, security, clauses) are attached but not read. Attachment J-1, the 160-page AOC Design Standards, was also only partly read.
- Which people count as Key Personnel under Section C and clause H.6 wasn't visible in the text that was read.
- The text doesn't say whether the 3,500 sq ft project counts as one of the five required projects or is a sixth.
- The contract value or budget isn't stated; the target fabrication budget comes at the kick-off meeting.
- No pre-offer site visit or conference is mentioned in the part of the solicitation that was read.
- Insurance, security badging and other Section H requirements for work on Library premises are in the part not read.
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside: any business, large or small, can bid unless the notice says otherwise.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email to Olexiy Levchuk (olevchuk@loc.gov), with copies to Moji Adejuwon (moad@loc.gov) and Ramon Samuel (rsamuel@loc.gov); proposals sent through SAM.gov are not accepted. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- Construction contracts over $2,000 pay at least the local Davis-Bacon wage rates, from the wage determination in the solicitation. Price your labor from it: How to price a government contract, and how Davis-Bacon differs from the Service Contract Act.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 20, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- Contracts Services, Washington, DC
- Product/service code
- Y1PB · Construction of Exhibit Design (Non-Building)
- Business type
- Construction & renovation (FedReady's grouping, from product/service code Y1PB)
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
The Library of Congress (“Library”) is the largest library in the world, with millions of books, films and video, audio recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts in its collections. The Library is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. The Library preserves and provides access to a rich, diverse and enduring source of knowledge to inform, inspire and engage visitors in their intellectual and creative endeavors. The Center for Exhibits and Interpretation (CEI) supports the Library’s mission by creating exhibits and publications that forge meaningful connections with the Library’s vast collections. Within CEI, the Exhibits Office (EO) is responsible for the design, fabrication, installation and maintenance of all components of the permanent and changing exhibitions at the Library. On behalf of the Library/CEI, EO seeks an experienced museum exhibit design firm for a full-service design of its upcoming changing exhibit Comics for its SW Gallery, approximately 3,700 SF, including one rotational package, and promotional graphics (one brochure, one poster design, and three website graphic designs as described below). The Comics changing exhibit will feature the Library’s unrivaled collections of comic books and related ephemera to explore their power as a storytelling medium and cultural icon. This exhibit will showcase a wide array of objects, images, and stories from the Library’s collections (and potential incoming loans) to tell the unique story of comics. AV integration and media production is not within the scope of this contract and will be subject to a separate contract. The Contractor shall provide expert quality creative exhibit design services for the Library’s Comics changing exhibition.