In the midst of a pandemic, 95 year old Eva Hilborn, a resident of Qualicum Beach since 1970 and lifelong learner and champion of early childhood education, wondered how she might help her community in promoting the value of early childhood literacy.  After reading about Dolly Parton’s foundation, Imagination Library, giving millions of books to young children around the world, Eva said to herself, “if Dolly did it, so can I”. In May 2021, Eva created The Wonderful World of Books with the intent of ensuring every three year old living within Qualicum School District 69 (Nanoose to Deep Bay) would receive a new book each month for two years. Each child in the area would receive 20 new, age appropriate books prior to beginning kindergarten. Now in 2026, our fifty volunteers deliver hundreds of monthly books to registered children ages birth to four living in the Oceanside area from Bowser to Nanoose Bay, including Lasqueti Island. When Eva Hilborn passed away on June 1, 2026, the board committed to honour her vision and Eva’s legacy lives on with monthly book deliveries.

There are no criteria based on family income to register in the program.