Austintown native’s Dolly Parton doc premieres today on Facebook

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A documentary about music superstar Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which was directed by an Austintown native, will premiere on the world stage during a Facebook event tonight.

“The Library That Dolly Built” follows the Imagination Library’s history, impact and future and documents Parton’s career and philanthropy efforts. The documentary is directed by Nick Geidner, who grew up in Austintown and graduated from Youngstown State University in 2005.

Geidner is now a professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

The Imagination Library mails children who enroll one book each month from birth until age five. Geidner came up with the idea for the documentary when his five-year-old son graduated from the program.

In 2018, when Geidner started his project, the Imagination Library was about to deliver its 100 millionth free book.

“That was sort of the motivation to do it,” said Geidner said, who credited his experience at YSU as influencing his practices as a professor today.

“I think part of the reason that I wanted to create big programs here that really get students involved in the documentary making or in the media making is directly because of my experience at Youngstown State,” Geidner said.

Geidner and Clinton Elmore, editor of the documentary and video production specialist at UT, worked with 15 students — ranging from freshmen to graduate students — on the documentary through Land Grant Films, a program that teaches UT students documentary-making skills.

Parton started Imagination Library in 1995 in Sevier County, Tenn., her hometown. The first order only delivered 1,700 books. At the end of this month, the library will have delivered more than 150 million free books to children all over the world.

“[It] has grown and grown, just like her career, into bigger and bigger acts of philanthropy until you reach where she is today,” Geidner said.

He hopes this documentary helps more people learn about the Parton's literary legacy.

Parton funds the program on a national level, and Imagination Library negotiates wholesale pricing for the books. However, local affiliates still need to raise money to help fund local programs. Geidner hopes local organizations can use the documentary to inform the public and raise money for Imagination Library affiliates.

“I know our imagination library affiliate here in Knox County is going to be doing that,” Geidner said. “We hope Imagination Library affiliates all over the country can use it.”

The program is active in 45 states and is available in the United Kingdom, Australia, Republic of Ireland and Canada. The program launched in Ohio last year and is now available in all 88 counties.

Dollywood and Abramonrama, in association with The Dollywood Foundation, partnered to present a free one-night-only live streaming world premiere event for “The Library That Dolly Built.”

The world premiere of the event is exclusively on Facebook is at 7 p.m. today (Wednesday). The screening will be followed by a conversation with and an acoustic performance by Dolly Parton. More information and trailer for the documentary can be found on the Imagination Library’s website.

Viewers can tune into the live screening and conversation at Facebook.com/dollysimaginationlibrary.

This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 3:52 AM with the headline "Austintown native’s Dolly Parton doc premieres today on Facebook."