Greenblatt celebrates diversity through service
In the past three years, Ellen Greenblatt, associate dean for access, collections and technical services, has served on more than 60 committees, boards and task forces for the Auraria Library, the university and local and national organizations. For her dedication and outstanding service, Greenblatt received the Auraria Library Excellence in Service award for 2006.
While her list of service is extensive, it’s diversity that stands out among her list of accomplishments. In the library, Greenblatt co-chairs the Diversity Committee, which was honored last fall with an Outstanding Faculty Service Award from Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority at the inaugural Pan Hellenic Convocation. She served as vice chair of the Faculty Assembly Diversity committee and was a member and interim chair of the Faculty Assembly Gay Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer/Questioning (GLBTIQ) subcommittee, among other related campus committees. Greenblatt’s largest professional achievement was being elected President of the Colorado Association of Libraries. “I put a lot of time and effort into this position last year,” she explains. “It was probably my main service focus.”
Regionally, Greenblatt is allied with the Colorado Library Advisory Board Special Populations and Issues Committee, which works with libraries through the state to improve services to underserved populations such as African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos/Chicanos, American Indians, immigrants and GLBTIQ people.
Nationally, Greenblatt serves on the advisory boards for two diversity-related databases: The Research Library Group’s Chicano Database Thesaurus Advisory Board and EBSCO’s GLBT Life Advisory Board. In addition to advising EBSCO on content, she worked with a team to develop a GLBT thesaurus for the database. In recognition of her work, the Auraria campus receives free access to the indexing and abstracting portion of the database.
Greenblatt is on several management committees including the Dean’s Cabinet, Administrative Council and the Budget Advisory Committee. She has chaired the III Oversight Committee (which oversees the library’s online catalog and circulation system) and co-chaired the library Web Advisory Committee.
“Librarianship is a service-oriented profession,” she says. “I am fortunate to be a part of two communities that emphasize collaboration and cooperation—the Auraria Campus community and the Colorado library community—both of which provide plenty of service opportunities.”