The magnetocaloric properties of thin spacer of gadolinium between layers of “strong” ferromagnets (relatively high Curie temperatures) are studied experimentally. It is found that, at room temperatures, the magnetocaloric efficiency deltaS/deltaH (deltaS is the isothermal magnetic entropy change and deltaH is the range of applied magnetic fields) of Gd spacer of thickness of 3 nm is two orders in magnitude higher than this value in an individual thicker (30 nm) Gd layer. The observed increase in the magnetocaloric efficiency is explained by the influence of direct exchange coupling between the Gd spacer and its surroundings, which changes the distribution of magnetization in the spacer and, ultimately, its magnetocaloric potential. I. Yu. Pashenkin, N. I. Polushkin, M. V. Sapozhnikov, E. S. Demidov, E. A. Kravtsov, A. A. Fraerman.