MARYSVILLE — “I’ll finally be able to sit down and read a book,” laughed Mary Burns, owner of the BookWorks on Third Street, about her impending retirement.

The BookWorks has been a fixture on Third Street for 21 years, with Burns running the shop for 11 of those years, but the store will be closing its doors for the final time at the end of March.

“I’ve been thinking about selling the store for a while now, and moving on to something new,” Burns said. “The problem is, it’s been an awful year economically for us. It wouldn’t be right for me to try and sell the bookstore to a new owner in this climate. For a while, I thought all it would take would be some new energy and inspiration, but now, I honestly don’t know.”

Burns nonetheless sees a bright future for Third Street as a whole, noting that one of the biggest changes she’s seen since she first came to the neighborhood is how many of its storefronts are now occupied by business owners.

“My neighbors have been great,” Burns said. “One of them even made the sale sign for my window that I didn’t think to make up. Third Street just keeps adding.”

Burns has been particularly impressed by Patricia Schoonmaker, owner of the Trusty Threads used clothing store that opened at the start of the year on Fourth Street. Indeed, after this summer, Burns intends to turn over the coordination of the annual Marysville Homegrown Festival and Street Fair to Schoonmaker.

“This is just a good place to have a business,” Burns said. “It’s not like a mall. You have actual neighbors, and they really do care. Things are always happening here. It’s like a whirlpool.”

Burns has no plans to settle down too much, though. She already maintains a map distribution business, and she hopes she’ll have extra time after March to pursue her dream of helping raise funds for schools by coordinating children’s book sales.

“I know books, and my grandson is right at that age,” Burns said. “The hardest part about walking away from the BookWorks is not knowing if it’ll ever be a bookstore again.”

In the meantime, the BookWorks is conducting a sale to get rid of its remaining inventory, and Burns urged everyone with outstanding gift certificates to redeem them now, before it’s too late.

The BookWorks is located at 1510 Third St. in Marysville, and is open Mondays through Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more information, call 360-659-4997.