Finishing the Tables...

Hubby and I both like books.  A lot of books.  If we like one that we've read, we don't want to part with it, so we've ended up with quite the collection.  When we purchased the home we are in now there was no one good place for them, so we decided to make one of the rooms into a library.  Fortunately for us, my father-in-law has a lifelong friend who is an expert with wood (and I don't think it's something he ever did for a living, but he sure could have if he had wanted to pursue that path).  That super kind man took the not-short drive to our house, assessed the situation and immediately got to work on creating a wall full of built-in bookshelves. Him, his friend (my f-i-l) and my husband went to Home Depot to pick up the supplies, and cut, sanded, stained, etc. well into the night.  Two days later, they were done and we couldn't have been more happy with the results.

Fast forward a few years...mm hmm, a few years, and hubby finally found the tables he wanted to put in the room (until that point we didn't have any because he didn't want to settle for the wrong tables...I wish I was kidding ;) ).  We diligently looked for tables for quite awhile, never finding what he wanted.

Out of the blue when he was at work he happened upon 'the tables' that he was looking for.  I guess he wanted something solid and chunky that wouldn't go out of style, not elegant... masculine almost, but still attractive?  Because that's what we ended up with.

The tables came home and sat around for a bit.  Last weekend he began to stain them...with the same color he used for the shelves.

Freshly coated...still wet.

They're coming along nicely, but hubby's never stained furniture before (besides the bookshelves, but he had experienced help every step along the way with those), so we're wondering what to put on top of it to help ensure it doesn't get scratched up from regular wear and tear.

We have this:

But that's it...

I cannot help but feel like we should have something more...something stronger. I'm excited because after years of looking 'unfinished' we're super close to making that room an actual place we sit and visit, relax, or even entertain.  Woot!  Does anyone have suggestions?  Proven methods?  Ideas on what we should use on top of that polyurethane?  Or maybe we shouldn't use anything at all?  Any and all advice is most welcome.  :)