Lectern

Lectern

Transparent	No
Luminance	0
Blast resistance	12.5
Hardness	2.5
Tool
Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Flammable	Yes (30)
Catches fire from lava	Yes
Drops	Itself
Block entity ID	lectern
Namespaced ID	lectern

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.

Natural generation

Lecterns can generate in village libraries.

Obtaining

Lecterns can be broken with any tool, but an axe mines it the fastest.

Block	Lectern
Hardness	2.5
Tool
Breaking time
Hand	3.75
Wooden	1.9
Stone	0.95
Iron	0.65
Diamond	0.5
Golden	0.35

Crafting

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Any Wood Slab + Bookshelf

Usage

Lecterns 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.

Redstone signal

Lecterns holding a book will emit a redstone pulse when a page is turned. A redstone comparator will also record book reading and send a signal, depending on what page the player is currently on. (e.g. a book with 15 pages will power 1 redstone level per page, or one with 5 pages will emit 3 signal strength per page.) Because Bedrock Edition displays two pages of the book at once, same signal strength increments require double the number of pages.

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.

Fuel

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

Sounds

Sound	Subtitle	Namespaced ID	Subtitle ID	Source	Pitch	Volume	Attenuation distance
	Block breaking	block.wood.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit	Blocks	0.5	0.25	16
	Block broken	block.wood.break	subtitles.block.generic.break	Blocks	0.8	1.0	16
	Block placed	block.wood.place	subtitles.block.generic.place	Blocks	0.8	1.0	16
	Footsteps	block.wood.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps	Blocks	1.0	0.15	16
	No subtitle	block.wood.fall	(Plays when fallen on from a height)	Blocks	0.75	0.5	16

Data values

Block states

See also: 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 entity

See also: Block entity format

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

• Block entity data
  • Tags common to all block entities see Template:Nbt inherit/blockentity/template
  •  Book: The book item, without the slot tag, currently on the lectern, may not exist.
    • Tags common to all items see Template:Nbt inherit/itemnoslot/template
  •  Page: The page the book is currently on, starting from 0, does not exist if there's no book.

History

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.
Java Edition
1.14		18w44a			Added lecterns.
					Lecterns are currently only obtainable 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.
		18w45a			The inventory icon of lectern has now been slightly changed from to .
					The texture of lectern has now each separated, and the layout of each part was tweaked.
					The bottom texture of lectern has been removed and replaced with texture of oak planks.
		18w48a			Lecterns can now generate in plains village libraries.
		18w49a			Lecterns now can also generate in savanna and snowy tundra village libraries.
		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.
		19w03a			Certain blocks can no longer be supported by the top of a lectern.
					Lectern now uses some corrected side cullface arguments.[needs testing]
		19w03c			The lectern now uses correct cullface arguments on its remaining sides.[needs testing]
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.

Issues

Issues relating to "Lectern" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Gallery

• 

  One of the two first images of the lectern.

• 

  The second of the first images of the lectern.

• 

  The new lectern that was recently added.

• 

  A lectern holding a book and quill

• 

  Lectern holding a book shown from above.

References

Redstone

View at: Template:Redstone/content [edit]

Blocks

View at: Template:Blocks/content [edit]