How to make a lectern in Minecraft

Aakrit Sharma
Two Minecraft lecterns

Lecterns are pretty useful in Minecraft owing to their signal strength and the ability to create librarians. From its ingredients to crafting recipe, here’s how to make a lectern in Minecraft.

The complexity of items in Minecraft increases as players progress. During the mid-game, you will have to make or collect lecterns to turn a villager into a librarian. Thereafter, these librarians might help you in getting some great enchanted books.

Enchanted books are pivotal in Minecraft, as they allow you to add enchantments like Mending and Smite to the desired tools.

Now that we know about its significance, here’s a guide that will cover everything about crafting a lectern in Minecraft.

A librarian standing beside a lectern in Minecraft

How to craft a lectern in Minecraft

You need the following items to craft a lectern in Minecraft:

  • Oak slabs
  • Bookshelf

Naturally, collecting these items is the most important step toward making a lectern in Minecraft, and here’s how you can get them easily:

How to get slabs in Minecraft

Wooden planks in Minecraft turn into slabs through the Crafting Table. To get wooden planks, you must collect logs from the Overworld by breaking trees through a tool. Adding wooden logs to a Crafting Table turns them into wooden planks.

Add three wooden planks to the bottom row of a 3×3 crafting grid in Minecraft to obtain slabs.

Crafting recipe for oak slabs in Minecraft

How to make a bookshelf in Minecraft

You need the following items to make a bookshelf in Minecraft:

  • Paper
  • Leather
  • Book
  • Wood planks

How to make Paper in Minecraft

You can make paper in Minecraft by adding three pieces of sugarcane to a 3×3 Crafting Table. Sugarcane is generally found near water bodies on dirt or sand. To make three pieces of paper, you’ll require nine sugarcane.

The image below illustrates the exact crafting recipe for paper in Minecraft.

Crafting recipe for paper in Minecraft

How to get leather in Minecraft

Leather can be obtained in Minecraft from animals such as cows. They are typically found in grasslands and randomly drop leather when players kill them. Do note that every cow doesn’t drop leather.

How to make a book in Minecraft

To make a book in Minecraft, you need leather and paper. The procedure to get leather and paper has been explained above, and this is the crafting recipe for crafting a book:

Crafting recipe for a book in Minecraft

Crafting recipe for a bookshelf in Minecraft

After obtaining books, you can make a bookshelf in Minecraft. Place three books in the middle row of the 3×3 Crafting Table and wooden planks on the rest of the blocks.

The crafting recipe has been showcased in this image:

Crafting recipe for lectern in Minecraft

Crafting recipe for lectern in Minecraft

After making a bookshelf and oak slabs, place them on a Crafting Table in this manner to get a lectern in Minecraft:

Crafting recipe for lectern in Minecraft

How to naturally obtain lecterns in Minecraft

Lecterns in Minecraft are commonly found in villager libraries or ancient cities. You can use any tool to mine them, but for best results, use an axe. A lectern drops itself and the book it’s holding upon breaking.


This was everything you need to know about making lecterns in Minecraft. The sandbox game has a ton of other items so make sure to check out our guides on how to make a lead in Minecraft, how to grow mushrooms in Minecraft, and how to make a lantern in Minecraft.

Image Credits: Mojang

Sign up to Charlie INTEL for free and receive:
Fewer Ads|Dark Mode|Deals in Gaming, TV and Movies, and Tech