Amandeep Kochar, executive vice president and general manager of Baker & Taylor, has been named winner of the “Global Leader” category in the 2021 EdTech Awards by EdTech Digest. The award is from “The EdTech Leadership Awards” portion of this year’s contest.

Kochar is responsible for leading Baker & Taylor’s global public and academic library sales, supply chain, technology, partnership strategy and publisher relations. He also manages global product engineering and international operations with dual accountability for Baker & Taylor and Follett School Solutions. In 2014 he joined Baker & Taylor, the world’s largest distributor of physical and digital books and entertainment.

“I am thrilled to be recognized as EdTech Digest’s 2021 Global Leader Award winner among a stellar list of finalists,” Kochar said. “It was an honor to be named a finalist and to win the category is truly humbling.”

During the pandemic, Kochar spearheaded the launch of the Sustainable Shelves Program, assisting libraries in ridding their collection of weeded titles and receiving credit to use with Baker & Taylor. The company also launched a number of publisher, partner-driven efforts for remote programming.

“The last year has been challenging for both Baker & Taylor and the industry as a whole,” Kochar said. “I am incredibly thankful to my team for leading with grit and kindness and to the librarians and educators who have weathered the storm. I will continue serving Baker & Taylor and Follett’s mission of advancing education and literacy in communities around the world proudly.”

Additional ’21 EdTech Awards

As part of the competition’s “Cool Tool Awards,” two Follett and two Baker & Taylor solutions earned “Finalist” accolades:

• Follett Destiny Resource Manager in the “Administrative Solution” category;

• Follett Aspen Student Information System in the “SIS Solution” category;

• Baker & Taylor’s Community Share in the “Product or Service Setting a Trend” category; and

• Baker & Taylor’s Highlights for Children Activity Bingo in the “Resources/Other Helpful Sites or Tools for Education” category.

Schools and districts turn to Follett Destiny Resource Manager for tracking and managing their valuable resources and assets. From textbooks to assets such as laptops, band instruments, uniforms, and more, the solution provides districts a comprehensive overview of their investments. Destiny Resource Manager increased in popularity during the pandemic, especially since laptops were leaving the classroom setting and being distributed to homes for remote learning.

Follett Aspen Student Information System safely and securely hosts and manages student data, such as class schedules, school events, student performance, athletic eligibility, and individual health records. Follett responded to educators’ needs during the pandemic by adding new convenient features to the SIS, including Social Emotional Support and Online Registration modules. Aspen SIS serves more than two million students throughout the United States and Canada.

Baker & Taylor’s Community Share expands the age- and grade-appropriate digital content available to students by leveraging library resources in the school environment. With the Baker & Taylor Axis 360 reader, students are connected to a wealth of content at their local public library, creating lifelong library patrons. This initiative allows libraries to tap into the capabilities of technology and improve student access to information.

Highlights for Children Activity Bingo is among the recent publisher/partner driven efforts launched by Baker & Taylor for remote programming at the start of the pandemic. This unique program fosters a love of reading, imagination and problem solving, brought to students and families by the renowned and trusted Highlights for Children. The program includes 12 themed bingo cards and nearly 200 eBook titles from the Highlights social emotional learning-based series that can be read on Axis 360. 

“Trying times revealed strengths and capabilities of people, and workability of products,” said Victor Rivero, who oversees the awards program in his role as editor-in-chief of EdTech Digest. “Leaders and innovators with their tools and techniques worked hard to keep the learning world connected to knowledge and each other. As so many have shown, nothing can stop the human spirit – and we continue to move forward.”

Now in their 11^th year, The EdTech Awards are the largest recognition program in all of education technology. Contest organizers announced all winners and finalists on Wednesday (March 31).

For more information about Follett, visit www.follettlearning.com; for more about Baker & Taylor, visit www.baker-taylor.com. 

About Baker & Taylor | baker-taylor.com/

Baker & Taylor, a business unit of education content and technology provider Follett Corporation, offers the most extensive selection of products and services for public libraries, and is the only vendor that can truly offer a one-stop shopping experience for all formats, including print, movies and music, and digital downloadable ebooks and audio content. Visit Baker & Taylor’s online selection and acquisitions website, Title Source 360. 

About Follett’s PreK-12 Business| FollettLearning.com
Follett is the largest provider of educational materials and technology solutions to PreK-12 libraries, classrooms, learning centers and school districts in the United States, and a major supplier to educational institutions worldwide. Follett distributes books, reference materials, digital resources, ebooks and audiovisual materials, as well as pre-owned textbooks. Follett also is one of the leading providers of integrated educational technology for the management of physical and digital assets, the tracking, storing and analyzing of academic data, and digital learning environment tools for the classroom focusing on student achievement.