Minecraft Lectern
Image via Prima Games.

How to Get Lecterns in Minecraft

Useful for just a little more than reading.

Books in Minecraft don’t hold a lot of use outside of notetaking or storytelling, often leaving them forgotten by many. They can have some uses though, even outside of just crafting. Take the lectern for example, which has a few uses from decorative to practical. How you get this station can be a little confusing though. Here’s how you can get yourself some lecterns in Minecraft.

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Where to Find Lecterns in Minecraft

Perhaps the easiest way to acquire a lectern is by simply crafting it. In the crafting grid, make a T shape by placing any type of wooden slab in the top three slots, a bookshelf in the center, and another slab of any type in the bottom slot. Keep in mind that whatever type of slab you choose, the lectern will remain with an oak color scheme. The other way you can acquire a lectern is by finding one in the world, as it can be found within village buildings and within an ancient city.

As for its uses, as mentioned there are two. The first is to place a book and quill within, so you can display whatever literary works you have going in Minecraft with pride. The other far more useful application for the lectern is it being the job block for librarian villagers. This type of villager can give enchanted book trades, which can be insanely valuable. It could have some interesting enchantments such as Efficiency IV or Unbreaking III, or even some unique and useful enchantments like Silk Touch or the glorious Mending, letting XP repair your tools.

Related: How to Play Minecraft on Oculus Quest 2 (2023)

As a bonus tip, if you’re looking to get some of these incredible trades, keep breaking and replacing the lectern near a villager. Each time you do, check its trades for something you want to keep. Once you have one, don’t break the lectern again. Easy as that!


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About the Author

Shawn Robinson

Shawn is a freelance gaming journalist who's been with Prima Games for a year and a half, writing mainly about FPS games and RPGs. He even brings several years of experience at other sites like The Nerd Stash to the table. While he doesn't bring a fancy degree to the table, he brings immense attention to detail with his guides, reviews, and news, leveraging his decade and a half of gaming knowledge. If he isn't writing about games, he's likely getting zero kills in his favorite FPS or yelling at the game when it was 100% his fault that he died.