THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 10, 1997 TAG: 9701100508
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: 55 lines
If ever a cat earned its keep - and few cats do when you get right down to it - that cat is Molly at the Van Wyck branch library in Norfolk.
For 13 years Molly has kept Van Wyck mouse-free, and the patrons, especially children, happy.
Now she is in the care of the Dog and Cat Hospital on 21st Street for severe head injuries she suffered late Monday in a bout, apparently, with an automobile.
As word spread of her hospitalization, friends were rallying Thursday with offers of funds to help pay hefty expenses if doctors find that an operation is feasible.
``Molly is the senior staff member at this branch,'' said Sherry Clem, its manager. ``She has been here longer than anyone else.
``She's everybody's cat. She belongs to the community.''
A brown, black and orange tortoise shell weighing 12 1/2 pounds, she has a little middle-age spread from treats from older admirers.
In 1986 the city library board declared her a full-time staff member. But, as Clem observed, Molly is not a line item in the municipal budget. Her food and board, what little there is, have been borne by other staff members and friends.
A user, paying a 50-cent late fine, pulls out a dollar and says keep the change for Molly.
An elderly gent, one of the first to hear that the cat was stricken, plunked down a $10 bill: ``That's for Molly,'' he said.
(An account to receive donations at any NationsBank has been opened under the name of Molly Van Wyck.)
Yvonne Hilliard-Bradley, former Van Wyck manager, rescued Molly among four kittens left on her front porch in Ghent in 1983. She found homes for three and took Molly to Van Wyck, which was under siege from field mice.
``Molly was an instant success,'' said Hilliard-Bradley, now manager of Norfolk branches. ``She was an instant success. She is a particularly friendly cat. Children fall in love with her. She sits in their laps when they read and watches movies with them.
``Many parents, whose apartments don't allow pets, bring their children to play with her. They come to see Molly and, from the start, she has been right there to greet them when they come in.''
She proved an excellent mouser but, invariably, brought them in alive. ``I'd take the mice a block or two away and release them - and I suppose they came right back,'' said Hilliard-Bradley. In time, however, Molly's mere presence repelled the mice.
When Molly failed to return from a morning walk Monday, her friends worried through the day. Tuesday morning, they found her waiting, severely injured, in the bushes by the front door where she had dragged herself. Now her friends wait to hear if she can be saved. ILLUSTRATION: [Molly]