This paper summarizes the social motivation for the rise of reading promotion in China and compares the current status of reading promotion by academic libraries in different countries through literature review. Based on the findings of a questionnaire survey, the attitudes, methods, effectiveness and obstacles to development of reading promotion are then revealed. Finally, the paper discusses issues like librarians’ opinions on reading promotion,roles of reading promotion in university libraries,characteristics of implementation,qualities of the promotion team, and the trends of development. It is pointed out that academic support, student-oriented,reading therapy and creativeness should be the priorities when developing reading programs for academic libraries in the future.