The 2023 Reading Festival was opened with the theme “Stay Hungry for Reading, Stay Hungry for Wisdom”, on April 22 at Jiangsu University (JSU). Vice President of JSU Prof. Chen Hong, Jiangsu Provincial Government Counselor Cai Run and his wife Wu Ying, General Manager of Zhenjiang Cultural and Tourism Industry Group Jiang Yunfeng, Director of Publicity Department of JSU Prof. Yang Daojian, Jiangsu Provincial Government Counselor Prof. Lu Zhangping, Presenter of CCTV's "Hundred Lectures" from Shaanxi Normal University Prof. Yu Gengzhe, Former Chairman of Zhenjiang Writers Association Wang Chuan, Chairman of Zhenjiang Writers Association Cai Yongxiang, cultural celebrities, leaders of JSU's relevant departments and schools, and over 200 teachers and students from JSU attended the opening ceremony. The ceremony was hosted by Secretary of the Library Party Committee Prof. Zhang Mingping.

Prof. Chen Hong congratulated the opening of the 2023 Reading Festival, affirmed the effectiveness of the library's work, and shared her understanding of reading, recommending students read more history, biographies, and Chinese and foreign classics. She hoped everyone could inspire people around them to read, and cultivate a good academic campus atmosphere.
Cai Run signed the "Book Donation Agreement" with the library, donating tens of thousands of volumes of his personal collection to the library. The ceremony also featured the release of the "2022 Reading Big Data Report", which announced the book borrowing data, admission data of readers of all grades, and the top ten most popular books in 2022. In addition, the library invited party secretaries of schools to recommend classic books to teachers and students, and jointly releases the "Duxing Book List".

The ceremony also held the awarding ceremony of the "National Talent" scholarship for diligent reading, presented to 10 students who won the "Most Beautiful Reader Award" and 10 students who won the "Excellent Reader Award". The retired employee of JSU Tang Guoliang donated RMB 200,000 yuan to the library in two times to set up the "National Talent" Diligent Reading Scholarship to reward students who love reading and have excellent academic performance.

The library recommended a group of “Reading Promotion Representatives” every year. This year’s Book Festival elected Former Chairman of Zhenjiang Writers Association Wang Chuan, Chairman of Zhenjiang Writers Association Cai Yongxiang, Chairman of Zhenjiang Calligrapher Association Cao Bingfeng as “Reading Promotion Representatives”. Cai Yongxiang spoke as a representative.

After the opening ceremony, Prof. Yu Gangzhe gave a lecture entitled "Market and Daily Life in Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty", bringing the audience back to the Tang Dynasty and experience the daily life of ordinary people in Chang'an City.
The series of activities will continue until the end of this semester, focusing on excellent Chinese traditional culture, revolutionary culture, advanced socialist culture, and so on. It aims to guide students to inherit civilization, read, think carefully, and explore the truth.