How To Use A Lectern In Minecraft

A lectern is a librarian's job site block found in villages. It is used to hold books for multiple players to read in multiplayer.

1 Obtaining
- 1.1 Natural generation
- 1.2 Breaking
- 1.3 Crafting
2 Usage
- 2.1 Holding books
- 2.2 Changing profession
- 2.3 Redstone signal
- 2.4 Fuel
- 2.5 Note Blocks
3 Sounds
4 Data values
- 4.1 ID
- 4.2 Metadata
- 4.3 Block states
- 4.4 Block data
5 History
6 Issues
7 Gallery
8 References

Obtaining [ ]

Natural generation [ ]

Empty lecterns can generate naturally in village libraries, up to two for some library variants.

Breaking [ ]

Lecterns can be broken with any tool, but an axe mines it the fastest. Lecterns drop themselves and the book they are holding.

Block	Lectern
Hardness	2.5
Tool
Breaking time^[A]
Default	3.75
Wooden	1.9
Stone	0.95
Iron	0.65
Diamond	0.5
Netherite	0.45
Golden	0.35

↑ Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

Crafting [ ]

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Any Wood Slab + Bookshelf

Usage [ ]

Lecterns are the job site block of Librarian villagers.

Librarian villagers do not use lecterns, such as placing books into them. They only stare at the lectern from less than a block away as "working".

Holding books [ ]

The UI when reading a book on a lectern.

Lecterns can also hold a single book and quill or written book that other players can read at the same time. Right-clicking an empty one with a book and quill or written book places it. Right-clicking a lectern with a book already occupied opens an interface to read the book. Books occupying a lectern can be retrieved through the interface,‌^{[ Java Edition only ]} punching the lectern‌^{[ Bedrock Edition only ]} or by destroying the lectern, even when /gamerule doTileDrops is false.

Lecterns cannot hold enchanted books or normal books. Instead, right clicking the lectern with an enchanted book or a normal book does nothing and the book won't be placed.

Changing profession [ ]

If a village has a lectern that has not been claimed by a villager, any villager has a chance to change their profession into librarian if those villagers have not already chosen a job site block.

Redstone signal [ ]

Lecterns holding a book emit a full-strength redstone pulse that is one game tick long (0.5 redstone ticks) when a page is turned. A redstone comparator also records book reading and sends a signal, depending on what page the player is currently on. Because Bedrock Edition displays two pages of the book at once, the same signal strength increments require double the number of pages.

For Java Edition a book with only 1 page gives maximum signal strength, however page 1 always gives 1 signal strength no matter what if a book contains at least 2 pages.

Due to this, to calculate the signal strength of books with more than 1 page, use the following formula:

Where is the "floor" operation (round down), is the maximum number of pages the book on the lectern has, and is the current page number the lectern is turned to.

This is most noticeable when a book has 2 pages where the signal strength is either 1 on page 1 or 15 on page 2.

A book that would step up or down in increments of 1 per page would be 15 pages long.

For Bedrock Edition the formula is slightly different. Due to Bedrock Edition showing 2 pages at once and counting a change to the book's output only if the highest even numbered page contains information, a redstone comparator treats books with 3 pages the same as those with 1 or 2 pages of information, the same as how Java Edition would treat a book with just 1 page.

For 4 or more pages of information use the following formula to calculate signal strength.

In this case is half of the maximum page number rounded down, and is half of the current highest page number containing data displayed on the book interface, rounded down.

Rounding down is required to eliminate the discrepancy caused by books containing an odd number of pages. For example, a book with 8 pages gives a signal strength of 15 when looking at pages 7-8. A book with 9 pages has a signal strength of 15 when looking at either pages 7-8 and 9-10.

In Bedrock Edition, a book that steps up or down in increments of 1 per page turned must be exactly 30 pages long, with information left on page 30.

Fuel [ ]

Lecterns can be used as fuel in furnaces to smelt 1.5 items.

Note Blocks [ ]

Lecterns can be placed under note blocks to produce "bass" sound.

Sounds [ ]

Java Edition:

Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`block.wood.break`	`subtitles.block.generic.break`	1.0	0.8	16
None ^{[sound 1]}	Blocks	Falling on the block with fall damage	`block.wood.fall`	None ^{[sound 1]}	0.5	0.75	16
Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`block.wood.hit`	`subtitles.block.generic.hit`	0.25	0.5	16
Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	`block.wood.place`	`subtitles.block.generic.place`	1.0	0.8	16
Footsteps	Blocks	Walking on the block	`block.wood.step`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	0.15	1.0	16

↑ ^a ^b MC-177082

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
?	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`dig.wood`	1.0	0.8
?	Blocks	Falling on the block with fall damage	`fall.wood`	0.4	1.0
?	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`hit.wood`	0.23	0.5
?	Blocks	Jumping from the block	`jump.wood`	0.12	1.0
?	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	`land.wood`	0.18	1.0
?	Blocks	Walking on the block	`step.wood`	0.3	1.0
?	Blocks	When the block is placed	`use.wood`	1.0	0.8

Data values [ ]

ID [ ]

Java Edition:

Name	Resource location	Form	Translation key
Lectern	`lectern`	Block & Item	`block.minecraft.lectern`

Name	Resource location
Block entity	`lectern`

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Resource location	Numeric ID	Form	Translation key
Lectern	`lectern`	`448`	Block & Item	`tile.lectern.name`

Name	Savegame ID
Block entity	`Lectern`

Metadata [ ]

In Bedrock Edition, lecterns use the following data values:

	DV	Description
	0	South facing lectern
	1	West facing lectern
	2	North facing lectern
	3	East facing lectern
	4	South facing lectern that emits power
	5	West facing lectern that emits power
	6	North facing lectern that emits power
	7	East facing lectern that emits power

Block states [ ]

Java Edition:

Name	Default value	Allowed values	Description
facing	`north`	`east` `north` `south` `west`	The direction the lectern is facing. Opposite from the direction the player faces when placing a lectern.
has_book	`false`	`false` `true`	If the lectern currently has a book.
powered	`false`	`false` `true`	If the lectern is currently outputting a redstone signal.

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Default value	Allowed values	Description
direction	`0`	`0` `1` `2` `3`	The direction the lectern is facing. Opposite from the direction the player faces when placing a lectern.
powered_bit	`0`	`0` `1`	If the lectern is currently outputting a redstone signal.

Block data [ ]

A lectern has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block.

Java Edition:

Block entity data
- Book: The book item, without the slot tag, currently on the lectern, may not exist.
- Page: The page the book is currently on, starting from 0, does not exist if there's no book.

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Block entity format.

History [ ]

Java Edition
August 18, 2012		The lectern was an old project of Dinnerbone's. It was meant to be a stand for written books, so they could be easily read. He was well on his way to creating it when he encountered problems and scrapped the idea, but mentioned that he might pick up work on the lectern in the near future.
December 18, 2013		Dinnerbone states in his Reddit AMA that he has revisited lecterns, but scrapped them again as "something about them just didn't feel right".
October 18, 2018		Dinnerbone reveals that the lectern is once again in development.
1.14	18w44a	Added lecterns.
		Lecterns are currently obtainable only from the creative inventory and have no functionality.
		Lecterns currently have a `BookItem` field, which holds the book item to be displayed. However, this field cannot be set and is not written to the block entity.
		There is a file `lectern.png` which has each texture of the lectern on a large sheet. However, this is unused, as separate files ae also present.
	18w45a	The inventory icon of lecterns has been slightly changed from to .
		Removed the unused `lectern.png` file.
		The texture of lecterns has now been changed.
		The bottom texture of lecterns has been changed from to .
	18w47a	The bottom texture of lecterns has been changed, once again.
	18w48a	Lecterns now generate in the updated plains villages.
	18w49a	Lecterns now generate in the updated savanna villages and the new snowy tundra villages.
	18w50a	Lecterns now generate in the updated desert and taiga villages.
	19w02a	Lecterns now have a crafting recipe.
		Lecterns can now be used to hold books.
		Lecterns now emit a redstone pulse when a page is changed.
		Lecterns now use the correct cullface argument for its bottom face.
	?	Lecterns now use some corrected side cullface arguments for the front and back of their base plate.
	19w03a	Certain blocks can no longer be supported by the top of a lectern.^[1]
	19w03c	Lecterns now use correct cullface arguments on the left and right hand side of their base plate.
	19w11a	Lecterns now serve as librarian villagers' job site block.
1.17	21w08a	Lectern position within the Redstone tab has been moved out of the "essential" group in the creative inventory.
1.17	21w11a	Tweaked the lectern model.
Upcoming Java Edition
1.18	Pre-release 5	32px The texture of lecterns has now been changed.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0	beta 1.10.0.3	Added lecterns.
1.11.0	beta 1.11.0.1	Lecterns now emit a redstone pulse when a page is turned.
PlayStation 4 Edition
1.90		Added lecterns.