![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Carter_and_Ford_in_a_debate%252C_September_23%252C_1976_%2528cropped%2529.jpg/640px-Carter_and_Ford_in_a_debate%252C_September_23%252C_1976_%2528cropped%2529.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Lectern
Reading desk on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of support. To facilitate eye contact and improve posture when facing an audience, lecterns may have adjustable height and slant. People reading from a lectern, called lectors, generally do so while standing.
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Carter_and_Ford_in_a_debate%2C_September_23%2C_1976_%28cropped%29.jpg/640px-Carter_and_Ford_in_a_debate%2C_September_23%2C_1976_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In pre-modern usage, the word lectern was used to refer specifically to the "reading desk or stand ... from which the Scripture lessons (lectiones) ... are chanted or read."[1] One 1905 dictionary states that "the term is properly applied only to the class mentioned [church book stands] as independent of the pulpit."[2] By the 1920s, however, the term was being used in a broader sense; for example, in reference to a memorial service in Carnegie Hall, it was stated that "the lectern from which the speakers talked was enveloped in black."[3]