Not sure if this will fit the bill, but I am a huge fan of Joplin for general note taking and to dos.

OP will have to deal with the smell of the stain anyway, might as well do it right and use oil based poly.

I’ll agree that shellac is a joy to work with and looks great, but I’d be worried someone would attempt to clean the wood at some point in the future and damage the finish

Whatever you do, test the finish first. If you can remove the piece and do a test on the bottom, do it before you commit to the entire piece.

I’d probably do what you said, maybe use some sanding sealer first, and then stain and wipe on poly. I’ve had great success mixing poly and oil based stain 50:50 to make a wipe on finish.