PURPOSE: To draw out a book imposing plate from a housing position to a reading position and hold this plat at the angle of inclination adequate for reading by freely turnably coupling a small bevel wheel at the front end of a horizontal shaft to a large bevel wheel at the front end of the top of a vertical shaft, fixing the book imposing plate to the horizontal shaft and turning the horizontal shaft.

CONSTITUTION: The large bevel wheel 2 is mounted to the front end at the top of the vertical shaft 1 and is turned within the horizontal plane. The small bevel wheel 3 is mounted to the front end of the horizontal shaft 4 and is coupled to the large bevel wheel 2. The horizontal shaft 4 is turned like an arrow around the vertical shaft 1. The book imposing plate 5 is previously fixed to the horizontal shaft 4 and the gear ratio of the large bevel wheel 2 and the small bevel wheel 3 is set at, for example, 2:1. The book imposing plate 5 which faces the vertical direction in the housing position is held with 45° inclination when the horizontal shaft is turned by 90° around the vertical shaft 1. As a result, the reading stand is housed in the flank of a desk, etc., while the stand is not used. The reading stand is held in front of the eyes with the inclination suitable for reading at the time of use.