- A book can be crafted using 3 paper and 1 leather in Minecraft.
- Stronghold libraries are the fastest way of getting tons of books easily by breaking the bookshelves.
- A book can be used for crafting the enchanting table, bookshelf, book and quill, and even trade with the villagers.
Books and gaming don’t usually feel like things that go hand in hand in the real world. But in the world of Minecraft, books are an essential game mechanic to help you progress. You need them for enchantments, decoration, and also for expressing yourself. But that’s for later. For now, it’s time to learn how to make a book in Minecraft, and as a bonus, also how to get a bunch of them quickly. Having said that, let’s dive in!
Please note that, we will only focus on regular books in this guide. If you want to learn about enchanted books, you should use our linked guide. With that out of the way, you can use the table below to explore the crafting recipes, ingredients, and the process to find a book in Minecraft.
What You Need to Craft a Book
Crafting a book in Minecraft requires a few basic materials, shown as follows:
| Crafting Recipe | Materials Required |
|---|---|
| 1x Book | 3x Paper, 1x Leather |
| 3x Paper | 3x Sugarcane |
| 1x Leather | From killing animal mobs like cows, llamas, or by combining 4 rabbit hides |
How to Get Paper in Minecraft
Paper can be crafted from sugarcane that grows naturally near the water sources, such as rivers, lakes, swamps, and seashores. These plants can grow up to three blocks tall, and the only requirement to grow them is to have a block of water on the adjacent land.
So, simply break them with your hand, and leave the bottommost cane intact to have a renewable source of sugarcane. Then, you can use the sugarcane on a crafting table to get paper.
How to Get Leather in Minecraft
Leather can be obtained as a drop by killing the animal mobs like cows, horses, donkeys, mules, llamas, hoglins, and more. You can make a compact cow farm to have an unlimited source of leather in Minecraft. You can also get leather from chest loot, fishing, and trading, but mob loot is usually the easiest option.
Step-by-Step Crafting Guide
To make a book in Minecraft, you just have to place the collected ingredients on the crafting table. Follow the steps below to do so:
- Place three pieces of paper on the top row of the crafting table.
- Now, place a piece of leather anywhere in the crafting area to create a book.
Since the recipe is random, it doesn’t matter where you put the items. Once done, you can drag and drop the book into your inventory.
Other Ways to Find Books
If you need a book for a temporary purpose, it might be best to find it instead of crafting it. You can find books by the following methods.
Looting Chests in Structures
Books can be found as loot in the chests found in Ancient Cities, shipwrecks, strongholds, and villages. Here is how the books are distributed in Minecraft:
| Structures | Quantity | Drop Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient City | 3-10 | 35.9% |
| Shipwreck | 1-5 | 34.5% |
| Stronghold | 1-3 | 89.2% |
| Village | 1 | 12.1% |
Breaking Bookshelves
Breaking bookshelves found in Woodland Mansions, Stronghold, and villages. These are fantastic ways to gain 3x books at once for free. Moreover, a stronghold library can give you enough books for a complete level 30 enchantment setup.
Villager Trades and Gifts
In the Minecraft Java edition, you can also get books from librarian villagers under the “Hero of the Village” effect. You can also get an enchanted book and later use a grindstone to remove enchantments from it.
Using a Grindstone
If you obtain any enchanted book in the game by fishing or looting structures, you might think of using it on your tools. However, if you don’t need that particular enchantment, use a grindstone to remove the enchantment. This will give you a regular book and a few XP orbs.
How to Use Books in Minecraft
In Minecraft, books have multiple uses across the different systems. Since each of them serves a different purpose, the table below will help you decide where to use them:
| Use case | Function |
|---|---|
| Enchanting Table | A book can be combined with diamond and obsidian to make an enchanting table, and later used for applying enchantments |
| Building bookshelf | Books can be combined with planks to make this, and then they can be used to power up the enchanting table |
| Book & Quill | Books can be combined with ink and a feather to make this, and later it can be used for noting stuff. |
| Trading with Librarian | Books can be used to trade with Librarians to get better tools, or even some enchanted books |
| Chiseled bookshelf | Books can be kept inside this to store them |
Crafting an Enchanting Table
Books are directly related to crafting an enchanting table in Minecraft, and you will just need a single piece in the recipe. Along with that book, you’ll need 2x Diamonds and 4x Obsidians to craft the enchanting table.
Building Bookshelves for Better Enchantments
Bookshelves can increase the power of an enchanting table when you surround it with them. For making a bookshelf, you will require 3x books and 6x wooden planks. Place them on a crafting table to make the shelf. So, get 15 such bookshelves and place them around the table to get the highest tier of enchantments.
Creating a Book and Quill to Write In
A book can be combined with an ink sac and a feather to create a Book and a Quill. This item allows players to write custom text in multiple pages. Once you have signed it, the book can no longer be edited. Therefore, you can later use this book as a guide to roleplay, PvP, and sharing the lore across your multiplayer server.
Trading with Librarian Villagers
Books are tied to the Librarian villagers, who can offer the enchanted books in exchange for emeralds. You can also reset the Librarian trades by breaking and placing the job site block, the Lectern. This way, you can get some of the most powerful enchantments like Mending and Unbreaking.
Using the New Chiseled Bookshelf
The chiseled bookshelf doesn’t involve having any books in its crafting recipe, but this is a functional block that can hold up to six books at once. These can include the regular ones, enchanted books, written books, and even books with quills. However, these bookshelves won’t increase any enchanting power when placed next to the enchanting table.
How to Mass Produce Books in Minecraft
There is no way to automate crafting in Minecraft. So, if you can handle the crafting recipe, you can easily mass-produce the ingredients to craft books.
Building an Automatic Sugarcane Farm
We already have a guide in place to create a sugar cane farm in Minecraft for you to craft enough paper. When you have built these, the need for paper will be eliminated, and you can focus on collecting leather or make an individual farm for that as well.
Building an Efficient Cow Farm
As for the leather, our Minecraft cow farm can help you collect mobs to harvest a bunch of leather in no time. The best way to build such a structure is by cramming the cows inside a single block unit and using fences or other blocks to prevent them from moving. Now, keep feeding and breeding the cows to increase their number. Once it reaches the threshold for entity cramming, a cow will die and drop all the necessary loot, including leather.
With that, you are now ready to craft your own collection of books in Minecraft. They are a perfect addition to your Minecraft house. Some players use it on the best Minecraft servers to share their ideas. Others rely on them for unlocking the best Minecraft enchantments. But how are you going to use your books in Minecraft? Tell us in the comments!
Consider building the paper and leather farms, and then you will have an unlimited source of crafting ingredients. Then you can easily craft books in Minecraft.
No chiseled books do not increase the enchanting power of books.
Simply break the bookshelves to make books in Minecraft.
