Barbara Dacey, who joined WMVY radio as a part-time deejay and rose to director of worldwide programming, will leave the Island-based radio station where she has worked since 1985 at the end of the year, she announced today.

Ms. Dacey made the announcement on her regular midday radio show and in a press release distributed concurrently. Program director PJ Finn, who appeared with her on the air, said she was not retiring and had not ruled out the possibility of returning at some point.

“Working at MVY has been a central and deeply inspiring part of my life,” Ms. Dacey said in the press release. “Being on the air day in and day out is literally a transportive experience, and I love it and will miss it.”

Speaking on air, she said she plans to spend more time singing and playing her guitar as well as focusing on her meditation and work with Bodhi Path of Martha’s Vineyard.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to live my life,” she said. “This has been a very interesting decision-making process that I’ve gone through. In answer to why now, I don’t know. It seems like it is a good decision for me and I think it will be good for the station. I hope I’m making the right decision. I think I am.”

Ms. Dacy, who spent her entire career at WMVY, has been both its voice and its public face for many years. She was named program director in 1993 and was a key driver behind the radio station’s growth, lifting it to national recognition and guiding its emergence as one of the pioneers of streaming internet radio. In 2005 she was named director of worldwide programming.

“To be exposed to this music, this level of artistry and put feelings about lives into words and music has always and will forever save my life. It’s a privileged position we are in every day,” she said of being on the air.

Ms. Dacey will end her weekday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on-air shift and take an undefined leave from the Friends of mvyradio board.