lec·tern 
(l
ĕk
t
ərn)
n.1. A reading desk with a slanted top used to hold a sacred text from which passages are read in a religious service.
2. A stand that serves as a support for the notes or books of a speaker.
[Middle English lettorne, lectorn, from Old French lettrun, from Medieval Latin lēctrīnum, from Late Latin lēctrum, from Latin lēctus, past participle of legere, to read; see leg- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]