I ended up going with peel and stick tiles for the bookcase tops. I just want this project to be done and this seemed like the easiest route. I hope I don’t regret my choice. I got this one. It had the marble look I was after and I liked the metal accents. I installed half of it yesterday and it went in pretty quickly. It looks pretty good–not as good as tile, of course. But, at a glance, it looks pretty nice. Once I get the rest of it in, I just need to purchase and install some trim around the top of the cases and it’ll be done!
Phase three of the project will involve LED lighting around the tops of the cases. This would be a simple project, except there are no outlets in the library. So, I’ll probably need to hire an electrician for that (the outlet part, that is). And, this will probably end up being a fall project.