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RedstoneCraftable

Lectern

A block that holds a written book for multiple players to read and emits a redstone signal based on the page being viewed. It is the job site block for librarian villagers.

Stack Size

64

Durability

N/A

Category

Redstone

Version Added

1.14

Item ID

lectern

Lectern at a glance

Lectern, a redstone component out of crafting and generated structures, sits under Redstone. 64 Lectern fit in a slot, 576 across the hotbar, 3456 in a double chest. As fuel Lectern is worth 1.5 smelts, so a stack of 64 smelts 96 items.

As a redstone component, Lectern is wired into contraptions and circuits, and what it does with a signal is what gives builders the logic and timing behind automatic farms, doors and machines. Breaking Lectern works against a hardness of 2.5. An axe makes Lectern quick, and even the cheapest one still drops it. It takes the same 2.5 from an explosion. It sits between Hopper and Lever in Redstone, number 9 of 29 there.

Crafting recipe

Crafting
BookshelfBookshelf
LecternLectern

How to obtain

  • Crafting
  • Generated structures

Fuel value

Lectern burns for 15 seconds (300 ticks), which is 1.5 items per Lectern

Notes

Turning the page of the held book changes the emitted redstone signal strength. Assigns the librarian profession to a nearby unemployed villager.

Frequently asked questions about Lectern

  1. How do you get Lectern in Minecraft?

    Lectern is crafted from Wooden Slab and Bookshelf at a Crafting Table, in a single step. It also comes from generated structures, not just the recipe above.

  2. Can Lectern be used as fuel?

    Fuel, and a usable amount of it: Lectern burns 15 seconds apiece, or 1.5 items out of a single one. Set against its recipe, Lectern carries the heat that Wooden Slab and Bookshelf would have given. Before it becomes Lectern, Bookshelf burns 15 seconds by itself.

  3. How many Lectern can you stack?

    64 Lectern fill one slot, and filling it costs 256 Wooden Slab and 64 Bookshelf: 64 crafts. A full backpack of 36 inventory slots carries 2,304 at once. A double chest of Lectern comes to 3,456, spread over 54 slots.

  4. What is Lectern used for?

    A block that holds a written book for multiple players to read and emits a redstone signal based on the page being viewed. It is the job site block for librarian villagers.

  5. Lectern as a block, next to the axe its 2.5 hardness asks for

    How long does Lectern take to break?

    Mining Lectern works against 2.5; explosions on it work against 2.5. Matching numbers put Lectern in the ordinary group, the group creepers get through, and it is no exception. An axe makes Lectern quick, and even the cheapest one still drops it. Java 26.2 stores Lectern with those figures unchanged, so it reads the same here.

Building with it

Four wooden slabs and a bookshelf make a lectern, and it does two separate things: it turns an unemployed villager into a librarian, and it outputs a comparator signal that changes with the page a reader is on. That second property makes a book into a dial.

In practice

A comparator on a lectern reads the page a book is open at, which turns a book into a dial with as many settings as it has pages. That is how a hidden switch can look like a reading desk, and it is one of the few analogue inputs in the game.

Related Astroworld Resources

Lectern in a redstone circuit

Timing, signal strength and wiring for Lectern on Astroworld Redstone

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Full Crafting Guide

Step-by-step crafting recipe for Lectern

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