Betty Follett: Living Her Dream

Promoting reading and early literacy for young children has been a life-long mission for Betty Follett, having been a teacher, a librarian and now an active and passionate volunteer.

In one year’s time, Follett, along with her husband, Rick, and a few other community volunteers, have worked diligently to secure more than 17,000 books for students in Belen and Los Lunas Schools last school year.

“I see these needs in the community, and it can be overwhelming at times, but I like to do everything I can to help,” Follett said. “It’s heartwarming to be able to contribute and make sure the children of our community have the opportunity to read.”

For that, and much more, Betty Follett is the News-Bulletin’s 2024 Citizen of the Year.

Follett’s neighbor and friend, Esther Dovichin, nominated her for the honor, saying “... she has greatly impressed me with the continuous and dedicated work she and her husband, Rick, have done in hopes of encouraging the greater development of literacy (and genuinely happy association with books and reading) in our Valencia County children.”

In total, Follett spent 42 years working in education, spending 17 years of her career as an elementary school librarian with the U.S. Department of Defense overseas. After leaving Germany in 2006, she relocated to Valencia County, where she taught math for four years at Los Lunas High School.

After permanently retiring, Follett wanted to continue her calling of educating youth, so she decided to go into schools and read to students, especially during Read Across America Week. While reading to children was always fun and rewarding, she wanted to do more.

That’s when she found the Read to Me! project, an Albuquerque-based nonprofit organization that accepts new or used books and donates them in and around the Duke City.

“I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I could do still more for the young folks ...,” Follett said.

Wanting to make sure Valencia County children benefited from the program, Follett contacted Dave Orner, the Read to Me! coordinator.

“We really needed someone to come in and help us ... and Betty swooped in and took over the place and she decided she had a lot of things happening in Valencia County,” Orner said. “She helped with that big void, and she turned this place on its ear. She’s a true force of nature. She came in here, picks up the books and has formed partnerships to help distribute the books in Valencia County.”

Before jumping in full force, the Folletts wanted to “test the waters” with just one school — La Promesa Elementary in Veguita.

“That decision turned out to be one of the best decisions we could have made,” she said. “We were hooked! We knew we could affect more children if they only had more books accessible to them.”

Belen Superintendent Lawrence Sanchez says both Betty and Rick have been dedicated to the school, saying they’ve basically adopted the students and staff.

“We’re proud of the team down there, and the principals are excited to be able to offer this for our children. Book fairs are great, but not all families can afford to buy books, so getting these free books make a big difference.

“My hope is that they take these books home, and the parents get involved and help read to them, or read with them,” Sanchez said.

After receiving a great reception from the students, staff and families at La Promesa Elementary, the Folletts concluded it was time to go all in and, at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, they adopted all 17 elementary schools in Valencia County.

The books are acquired from donations by folks in Albuquerque, and taken to a warehouse in Albuquerque, where they’re cleaned and inventoried by an army of Read to Me! volunteers.

The weekly task culminates in another group of volunteers charged with distributing the books. Follett has been able to recruit others to help, including the 13th Judicial District Attorney’s office as well as Rachel Bate, a local children’s book author, to help distribute the books.

Robyn Simms, the deputy district attorney, said she met Follett at a Los Lunas Rotary Club meeting, and when she heard of the project, she was all in.

“I volunteered Sarah Chavez, who is the supervising support staff at the district attorney’s office, and our investigator, Johnny Cappelini,” Simms said. “For more than a year, they’ve been meeting up with Betty, picking up the books and delivering them to schools in Valencia County. Last year, they delivered more than 17,000 books.

“We get involved with whatever people need from us in the community. Anytime folks ask to help, especially when it helps the children, we’re here.”

“It’s a good feeling,” Chavez said. “Being able to give back to the community I live in is just an amazing feeling — it’s a reward itself.”

Bate took care of Ann Parish, Desert View and Tomé elementary schools.

“She’ll do just about anything to help, and I told her she’ll be taking this on once I get too old to do it anymore,” Follett said with a chuckle.

“Helping is one thing, but doing all the organization is another,” Follett said. “It takes a lot of time. At the end of last year, with 17,000 books, it was exhausting but it was rewarding.”

Because of the amount of work and amount of books, Follett decided this year it was time to downsize from 17 schools to 10 — six in Los Lunas and four in Belen.

“You might wonder why we can’t stop now,” Follett said. “Things keep popping up that would make our attempt to create better readers more meaningful and, hopefully, more far-reaching.”

For every 300-400 books they bring home to Valencia County students, they regularly have a small handful of Spanish or bilingual books for children who need them.”

Vanessa Tregembo, director of Support Services at Los Lunas Schools, said when volunteers deliver books, it wasn’t only exciting for the students but for the staff as well.

“Even if a parent buys a book for a child, they’re going to outgrow it, so they always need new books and new literacy at home. It helps,” Tregembo said.

Volunteering is a lot of work and takes a lot of time, especially when you’re working with students, schools and a lot of books.

“She has done a lot of work, but Rick is the true hero because he quietly listens to all of the hubbub and just does exactly what she asks of him,” Orner said of Betty. “She has made great connections with the schools and the district attorney’s office. She’s gotten together a great group of volunteers who, along with the love of reading, are committed.

“We would love to have a Read to Me! Valencia County chapter, and Betty would be the logical choice — heck, she can run a major corporation if she wanted to.”

Along with getting books into the hands of Valencia County children, Follett has also been a longtime advocate for veterans, having had been an associate member of Blue Star Mothers of Valencia County. While not a member any longer, she still is dedicated to helping.

She creates these wonderfully sweet doll quilts that she donates to the children of enlisted military at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.

People, like Betty, who are passionate about their cause want to share their mission with everyone they know, encouraging others to get involved and motivated to give. She not only created a team of dedicated volunteers, but her energy and positive attitude is what has kept her going.

“I’m just excited we’re able to do this, to give to the children and the schools in our community,” Follett said. “If each and every one of us did just a little something, who knows what we could accomplish.”

At its core, volunteering is a selfless gesture. By giving her time, skills or resources to someone in need, Follett and her team are a true asset to the community.