Why are Lecterns so important in Minecraft

Minecraft has a ton of different items and structures in the game, to the point that even the game's veterans have trouble recognizing some in-game items at times. For example, in one of Dream's Minecraft Manhunt videos, GeorgeNotFound can be heard asking the other hunters what a bastion is. Among these items is a unique block called the Lectern.

The Lectern is a job site block in Minecraft. These blocks are quite accurately depicted with respect to their real-life counterparts and resemble real-life podiums and lecterns.

As far as the natural generation of these blocks is concerned, they can be found inside villages. Players must make sure the village has a Library or a Librarian villager in it, as these blocks can only be found in the houses of Librarians, which are Libraries.

As far as crafting is concerned, lecterns can be crafted quite easily. All that is required for the crafting recipe is four wooden slabs and one bookshelf. Wooden slabs can be obtained quite easily, while bookshelves require the player to collect paper and leather that come from sugarcane and cows/horses, respectively.

The next section will elaborate on why the block is so important in the game.

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Lecterns in Minecraft: Importance and uses

Lecterns are the Librarian's job site block (Image via Minecraft)

One of the primary roles the lectern block plays in the game is that it serves as the job site block for Librarian villagers and can also be used to change the profession of any villager to a Librarian.

The Librarian is one of the most essential and effective villagers in the game. These villagers can help the player acquire powerful and valuable enchanted books, along with other types of items. Other uses that make the lectern an effective block are listed below.

• Book holders: Lecterns can be used to hold books that a player has written in or a book and quill. This makes for a great decorative setup and allows the player to keep their written works in a safe and accessible space. Players can read the book whole it is placed on the lectern.
• Redstone signals: Lecterns that hold a book can be used to emit a redstone puls at full strength. This requires for a page of the book to be turned. This feature can be further expanded upon by the use of redstone comparators, which record and vary the signal depending on what page the reader has flipped to.
• Fuel: Like many other wooden items in the game, lecterns can be used to smelt a total of 1.5 items when used as a fuel source inside a furnace.
• Note blocks: A lectern can be placed below Note blocks to emit a “bass” sound, like many other blocks in the game.

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Lecterns, like many other blocks in Minecraft, can be broken and picked up using any tool. However, since it is a wooden block, using an axe is the fastest method to mine and pick it up for collection or relocation. Mining a lectern drops the lectern blocks, as well as a book they might be holding.