BOOK
5 trades involving this item across 1 trader.
View on Items Database →- Last checked
- 11 August 2026
- Java Edition
- 26.2, 5 of 5 rows found
- Bedrock Edition
- 1.26.30.5, 1 of 5 matching
- Edition differences
- none, 4 rolled prices aside
Book in villager trading
Book is a raw-material trade: villagers pay emeralds for it, which makes it a candidate for an automated emerald farm rather than something you purchase back.
Book is paper-based stock that feeds into the Librarian and Cartographer economies. A crafting grid makes one from 3 × paper and 1 × leather. It also sits in 17 of the game's chest loot tables.
Villagers that buy Book(you give Book, get emeralds)
Java 26.2
Bedrock 1.26.30.5
All 5 trades on this item were read out of the trade files Minecraft Java 26.2 ships in its own data, checked on against the item, both amounts and the use limit. 4 of them have a price the game rolls per villager, so the range is what it can roll rather than a fixed number. Bedrock 1.26.30.5 is read as well, and where it disagrees the row says how. Which files, and what is not checked.
Your odds of finding Book
A villager only shows part of its trade table, so knowing who trades book is not the same as getting it. The friendliest roll here is the librarian (novice): 67% of them carry it, so it takes about 1.5 of them on average before one does.
| Villager | Tier | Villagers with this offer | Rolls to see it | Most from one villager | After a cure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Librarian | Novice | 67% (2 in 3)Bedrock 50% (1 in 2) | about 1.5 | 24 enchanted book a day2 restocks a day | 1 emeraldwas 5, 4 off |
| Librarian | Apprentice | 67% (2 in 3)Bedrock 100% (1 in 1) | about 1.5 | 24 emeralds a day2 restocks a day | 1 bookwas 4, 3 off |
| Librarian | Apprentice | 67% (2 in 3)Bedrock 50% (1 in 2) | about 1.5 | 24 enchanted book a day2 restocks a day | 1 emeraldwas 5, 4 off |
| Librarian | Journeyman | 67% (2 in 3)Bedrock 50% (1 in 2) | about 1.5 | 24 enchanted book a day2 restocks a day | 1 emeraldwas 5, 4 off |
| Librarian | Expert | 50% (2 in 4)Bedrock 33% (1 in 3) | about 2 | 24 enchanted book a day2 restocks a day | 1 emeraldwas 5, 4 off |
The chance is the draw size over the pool size in the game's own trade set file for that tier. The Bedrock line under it is the same sum on Bedrock's own table, which splits a tier into groups and draws out of each one separately, so the two editions often disagree. The day figure is the trade's use limit times the 2 restocks a villager is allowed per in-game day (Villager.allowedToRestock), so it is a ceiling and not an average: it assumes you are there for every restock. The cure column is 125 reputation times the trade's own multiplier, floored, and never takes a cost below one. Counted from the game's own draw sizes. How that check works.
Buying a book against making it
The game's recipe makes one, made from 3 paper and 1 leather. Villagers here buy every one of those, so the parts have a price of their own: paper at 24 an emerald and leather at 6 an emerald. That puts one at 0.29 emeralds of goods.
A Librarian pays an emerald for 4 of them, and the parts for 4 come to 1.17 emeralds. Crafting them up to sell loses 0.17 emeralds a batch, so sell the parts instead.
Recipe out of data/minecraft/recipe in the same client jar the trades are read from. Part prices are the best rate any villager on this site pays, before any cure discount, and each of those is a trade with a page of its own. How that check works. The grid itself is on the book recipe page.
Who trades Book, and at what price
To sell Book for emeralds, bring it to a Librarian at the Apprentice tier (4 units per 1 emerald).
Book is also required as a secondary cost on the Librarian's Novice-tier enchanted book trade, the Librarian's Apprentice-tier enchanted book trade, the Librarian's Journeyman-tier enchanted book trade, and the Librarian's Expert-tier enchanted book trade, where you hand it over alongside emeralds rather than receiving emeralds for it.
Is trading Book worth it?
The best rate any villager offers is an emerald per 4 books, from the Librarian, and 1 of the other 3 pays out faster. No villager sells book back, so it is emeralds out and nothing in.
 | Book and QuillExpert | 2 | |
| BookApprentice | 4 | |
 | Ink SacJourneyman | 5 | |
 | PaperNovice | 24 |
Book against the other 71 ways to earn an emerald
One slot at the Librarian takes 4 books a trade, 12 trades, 12 emeralds. 8 of the 72 villagers that pay emeralds, emptied out:
| A full slot of | To | Emeralds | Worth in Book |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 jungle boats | master Fisherman | 12 | 48 books |
| 24 book and quills | expert Librarian | 12 | 48 books |
| 112 raw mutton | journeyman Butcher | 16 | 64 books |
| 120 sweet berries | master Butcher | 12 | 48 books |
| 224 string | journeyman Fletcher | 16 | 64 books |
| 256 andesite | journeyman Mason | 16 | 64 books |
| 288 brown wool | novice Shepherd | 16 | 64 books |
| 512 sticks | novice Fletcher | 16 | 64 books |
12 jungle boats against 384 sticks for the same 12 emeralds, 32 times the carrying, and the shortest wait is the Butcher at 7.5 real minutes of shelf, gathering not counted. Book itself pays 4 an emerald, so 13 of the 72 ask less and 50 ask more.
How Book trading works
Every book offer here locks after 12 uses, and a villager restocks up to twice per Minecraft day, so one is good for 24 of these trades a day and no more.
The earliest book shows up is the Librarian's Apprentice tier, level 2 of five, which a villager reaches at 10 trade experience. A freshly employed one is 1 tier short of offering book at all.
How long Book takes in real time
48 books empty one slot at the Librarian, 2400 ticks (Villager.allowedToRestock) at 20 a second (TickRateManager) refill it 2 real minutes later, and the 24000-tick villager day (Timelines) holds 2 of those fills in 20 real minutes.
So one librarian moves 96 books against 24 emeralds a Minecraft day, 4 books every 50 real seconds, 1.2 emeralds a real minute. 64 books take 2 fills across 1 Minecraft day, 2 minutes of it watching the librarian walk back to its lectern.
Tips for trading Book
- One villager, one restock: the Librarian pays an emerald per 4 books and that slot runs 12 trades, so 48 books is all one will take before it locks, for 12 emeralds in total.
- Where they go back: that Librarian also sells lanterns at 1 emerald each, its cheapest offer.
- Also on the Librarian's list: ink sac, glass, book and quill, clock, compass, yellow candle.
Book trading FAQ
How many books make an emerald?
Which villager sells Book?
Same trader, other items
The Librarian works at a lectern and also trades:
Lantern
Clock