LUCKNOW, April 24 -- While thrilled to see that book reading is picking up again, booksellers, however, still have a few good reasons to feel dejected. One of them is low footfall at their brick-and-mortar stores.

On World Book Day on Tuesday, some of the prominent bookstore owners in the state capital reflected on how the changing reading habit-shift from physical books to e-books-and mushrooming of online stores were impacting their businesses.

"With this trend catching up, the local bookstores will have to shut shops. The possible loss of local bookstores will be a blow to the localities and communities they serve. We need to save the bookstores," said Gaurav Prakash of Universal Booksellers. Prakash said much of the deflection of cu...